


The Valuable Sun

by AlonelyDreamer



Category: True Blood (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 10:55:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 89,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20406559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlonelyDreamer/pseuds/AlonelyDreamer
Summary: Brooklynne Stackhouse is Sookie and Jason Stackhouse’s little sister. Like her older sibling, she is a telepath, but her powers are far more stronger and far more uncontrollable than her sister’s. After a series of murders in Bon Temps, Sookie takes it upon herself to investigate, taking her youngest sister with her in a club called Fangtasia, where they meet vampire and sheriff Eric Northman.





	1. Chapter 1

It was a warm night in Bon Temps, just a little after midnight. Adele Stackhouse was playing cards with her granddaughter, Brooklynne Stackhouse, in her kitchen. Entertaining the 23-year-old girl was nothing unusual for the old lady. Brooke had special needs. Not that she had any disability in particular, on the contrary, she had special abilities, some would even say supernatural ones.

Like her sister, Sookie Stackhouse, Brooklynne was a telepath. But she was more than that. Her strong telepathic ability made it difficult for her to focus on anything and she spent most of her time, like most of her life, trying to control it. And that’s what she was doing. Playing cards with her grandmother was a fun ritual but also a good exercise. The rule was simple: don’t cheat.

Brooklynne Stackhouse was bored most of the time. It’s not that she wasn’t allowed to leave her house, she just shouldn’t. So, she read a lot. Listened to music. Learnt new things on the internet. Danced. Sang. Played with her grandmother.

As Adele was about to win their current game, her first granddaughter interrupted them. Sookie was coming back from work, the blonde 25-year-old was wearing her uniform, the shorts and the white shirt with “Merlotte’s” written on it. She appeared to be in a great mood.

“Hey Gran.”

“Hi, honey,” Adele greeted her with a smile as she removed her glasses. She was wearing a long and white old-fashioned nightgown.

“Guess what happened tonight?”

Adele thought for a moment and a smile formed on her face.

“You got a date!”

Sookie frowned.

“Um… no…” she said, a bit bothered, “a vampire came into the bar!” she told her before Adele had the chance to be disappointed.

The old woman gasped. “Oh! Did he have fangs?”

Brooke chuckled quietly.

“Yeah, but most of the time they stayed put away.”

“Did he bite anybody?”

“No,” Sookie laughed. “He just had a glass of wine. Well, he ordered it but didn’t drink it. I think he just wanted some company.”

“Did you like him?” Adele asked with a grin and Brooke looked up at her big sister, curious too.

Sookie looked down and shrugged.

“He was real interesting.”

Adele smiled and hummed, looking at her granddaughter as if she could see right through her. Brooklynne actually could. Sookie’s thoughts echoed in her head as she heard them in her sister’s mind.

“You know what else?” she said as she sat down next to her. “I couldn’t read his thoughts.”

Brooklynne’s smile disappeared as she focused on her sister’s face. “_Quiet?”_ She asked silently.

“Yep,” Sookie replied out loud. “I guess we can’t read vampires’ thoughts because they’re dead. It was so peaceful,” she sighed as she remembered being alone with him.

As the night’s events went through her head, Brooklynne saw it all. Bill, the vampire, entering Merlotte’s, ordering the wine, being attacked in the parking lot, Sookie rescuing him. The silence.

“Dangerous,” Brooklynne said as she looked back at her cards.

Sookie knew what she was referring to, but she didn’t want to alert her grandmother so didn’t reply.

“I’ll let you go to bed,” Sookie said as she got up.

She kissed her grandmother’s cheek before walking up to her bedroom.

“G’night Brooke.”

“Dream sweet dreams for me,” she sang quietly, like she would sometimes.

“Come on, honey, let’s finish this game.”

***

It was a hot morning. Sookie took the opportunity to put on a two-piece bathing suit and lie down a lounge chair, thinking about nothing but the vampire she had met the night before, and the weird dream that followed. Brooklynne was near her, wearing a short yellow dress, her long blonde hair brought up in a ponytail, and dancing barefoot on the grass. The music was in her head. She wasn’t paying attention to anything. Not even to her brother who had just stopped his truck in front of her. He got out quickly, not even bothering to say hello, shut the door of his car and walked straight up to Sookie.

“Hey! How come you didn’t tell me you beat up the Rattrays last night?”

“I haven’t even seen you since then!”

“Where’s Gran?”

“Hanging the laundry out back, and you keep your voice down! I don’t want her to know about any of this.”

“Fortenberry couldn’t wait till I got to work this morning to tell me about it!”

“Hoyt Fortenberry? How the heck does he know?”

“He went over to the Rats last night to buy some weed. And Denise drove up like she wanted to kill somebody, she was so mad. The only way she would sell him any weed was if he would drive Mack to the hospital in Monroe.”

“Uh-huh. Well, did Hoyt tell you that Mack came after me with a knife?”

“Motherfucker! You want me to kick his ass?”

“I already took care of that, thank you.”

Jason nodded, content to hear that justice had already been served.

“Well did you know that in addition to drugs, the Rats also happen to be vampire drainers?” she asked, and her brother frowned. “Yep. One of my customers last night was a vampire and they were draining him in the parking lot. I couldn’t have that.”

Jason took a deep breath, as if he were angry. Brooke was listening to them but when she heard why Jason didn’t like vampires, she took an interest in the conversation.

“Sookie, you do not want to get mixed up with vampires. Trust me.”

“Oh, shut up. Even if you hate vampires, you can’t let trash like the Rats go and drain them. It’s not like siphoning gas out of a car. They would have left him to die.”

“Who fucking cares? He’s already dead.”

“That’s not his fault!”

Jason sighed. He was about to walk out when a thought crossed his mind.

“What did he look like?”

“Handsome… in a sorta… sorta old-fashioned, like from a movie on TCM.”

“Was he bald-headed?”

“No,” she almost chuckled. “He had really nice hair.”

“Tattoos?”

“None that I could see,” she shrugged.

“It’s not your fault that they hover,” Brooklynne suddenly started to sing as she kept dancing, looking up at the sky as if her siblings weren’t just right in front of her, “I mean no disrespect, it’s my right to be hellish, I still get jealous.”

“I’m not jealous!” Jason stopped her and she laughed with her usual childlike laugh.

“Jason!” Adele interrupted them. She was walking towards them with a basket of wet laundry. “Sakes alive, boy, where have you been keeping yourself? You get on over here and hug my neck.”

“You get here, Gran,” he said as he stepped towards her to do as she said. “How’s my girl?”

“You’re all sweaty.”

“I know.”

“You want some iced tea?”

“I would love some iced tea,” he nodded as he let her grandmother drag him inside the house.

***

Jason stayed for lunch, during which he ate all of his food and most of Sookie’s and Brooke’s who were used to it. The phone rang, making Adele get up and leave the kitchen. Brooklynne focused on neither of their thoughts but rather escaped her own. She did that, sometimes. She left. Her body was still there, but her mind was travelling. She often went to “other worlds” as Adele called them. The doctors called it ADD. Brooke had no name for it as she wasn’t always in the same place. At that moment, like most of the time, she was at the pond in the cemetery, except there was more light and more sun but it wasn’t hot. There were other people there, but they couldn’t see each other, she just felt their presence.

“Brooke, stay with us,” she heard Sookie say and she came back.

She looked around and her siblings were still eating their food, but Adele was nowhere to be found. She could hear her on the phone in the other room.

“How long?” she asked.

“You’ve only been gone for about 5 minutes,” Sookie replied.

“Enough time for me to eat your food,” Jason smirked. “You weren’t hungry, were you?”

She didn’t answer. She never really did.

“That was Everlee Mason,” Adele said as she walked back in the kitchen with the phone in her hand. She had a horrified look on her face. “Guess who was found strangled to death in her apartment? Maudette Pickens.”

It was like an alarm ringing inside Brooklynne’s head, and it was coming from her brother’s mind. Jason had a worried look on his face and it didn’t take long for Brooklynne to find out everything.

“Oh my Lord,” Sookie breathed out.

“She didn’t show up to work and wasn’t answering her phone, and so her boss called Bud Dearborne. He rode over, got the manager to let him in and they found her.”

“I went to high school with Maudette!”

“Can you believe it? A murder in Bon Temps?”

“Well, why are you surprised?” Jason spoke up. “Now that we got ourselves a vampire.”

“Just because he’s a vampire doesn’t mean he’s a murderer,” Sookie objected.

“Oh, come on! Fang-bangers go missing all the time in Shreveport. New Orleans. They never find them, but everybody knows the vampires are killing them and then disposing of the bodies.”

“What’s a ‘fang-banger’?”

“A vampire groupie,” Sookie answered, but that didn’t help her grandmother much. “Men and women who like to get bitten…”

“My stars!”

“Maudette was a fang-banger?” Sookie asked, more than surprised. “How do you know that?”

Jason didn’t answer right away. He was stuck. Brooke was listening silently to his every thought, but guilt and worry was all over his face.

“I don’t know, Sookie!” he replied loudly, with a defensive tone. “The way that you just know things sometimes!” he hit the table with his fist before he got up and took his plate to the sink.

Sookie watched him walk around the table carefully but didn’t reply. Her brother put down his plate and turned around, leaning against the sink.

He sighed. “There’s also hookers who specialize in vampires,” he told them with a calmer tone, “they drink Tru Blood to keep their supply up and they keep a bodyguard there in case the vamp gets a little too frisky,” he finished with a grin as if he thought the information amusing.

His sisters and grandmother did not, however, find that information amusing, and just stared at him in silence with a curious and suspicious look. Even though Sookie was trying to stay out of her brother’s mind, it was not a choice for Brooklynne who already knew everything.

“I read that in a magazine,” he lied.

“I wonder how much one would charge for something like that,” Adele said.

“A thousand bucks,” he answered, almost too quickly.

“See, now that just makes me sick,” Sookie sighed.

“I know,” Adele agreed, “what kind of cheap woman could ever do something like that?”

“No, it makes me sick that they’re getting a thousand bucks to lay there and do nothing while I bust my ass for 10 bucks an hour plus tips,” she clarified.

“Oh, I don’t think they just lay there,” Jason added with another grin, “I think they’re expected to… you know, participate.”

“Ew,” the waitress grimaced.

“Yeah,” Jason chuckled.

But his smile gradually disappeared as his eyes wandered around and his mind got lost in dark thoughts. The sudden change made Sookie curious and she focused on her brother’s mind, trying to hear something.

“Well, uh… thanks for lunch, Gran,” he said before he walked out of the kitchen.

Brooke watched as her sister got up and went after their brother. Sookie stopped him, putting her hands on his shoulders and turning him around to face her.

“What?” he asked with a frown.

She didn’t answer and took his face in her hands, closing her eyes as a way to focus.

_“This can’t be happening to me. How could I lose control? How come she…”_

But before he could finish his thought, he realized what she was doing and stopped her. He pushed her hands away and stepped back.

“Don’t try that with me, goddamn it! I’m your brother!” he shouted before he left the house.

Sookie watched him leave and didn’t try to stop him this time. She slowly made her way back to the kitchen where Adele was waiting for an explanation. Brooklynne wasn’t paying attention anymore, and she was playing with a lock of hair, twirling it around her finger, looking at it like it contained the answer to the meaning of life. When she was like this, people around her had just started to assume that they could say anything, and she wouldn’t hear them. But she did. She heard everything, spoken or unspoken. She was just really good at keeping secrets. Especially other people’s secrets.

***

Sookie left in the evening with a mission. Of course, she was going to work, but she had another task to accomplish. Adele Stackhouse was head of the Descendants of the Glorious Dead, a social organization she created to honor the American Civil War. People met to discuss the war and the effects it had on Bon Temps. Adele wondered if Bill would agree to come and speak at one of their meetings about his recollections of the war. Sookie agreed to ask him, it was a good excuse to speak to him again, after all. It was all Adele could think about that night, as she played Scrabble with her granddaughter. She tried to stay up as late as she could to ask Sookie when she came back from work but as she was falling asleep on the couch, she went to bed around 1AM, after she made sure Brooklynne was sleeping in her room.

It was the first thing they talked about in the morning. Sookie was sitting at the kitchen table, wearing the top of a green bathing suit with white dots and a very short white dress with green flowers. She was watching TV, listening to Reverend Theodore Newlin screaming at Nan Flanagan, a vampire rights advocate from the American Vampire League. Brooklynne was there too, sitting in front of her sister and turning her back on the TV. She was playing with the bottom of her green lime shirt and tugging at it.

“I don’t think Jesus would mind if somebody was a vampire,” Sookie told her grandmother who was fixing breakfast.

“I don’t either, honey,” she said as she put a plate of food on the table.

Sookie took a bite and hummed. “Is this sausage different from what you usually make?”

“No.”

“Uh… It tastes so much more complex than it usually does.”

“Oh dear, you think it’s gone bad?”

“No, it’s delicious. It’s like, I can close my eyes and I can see the farm the pig lived on and feel the sun and rain on my face and even taste the earth that the herbs grew out of.”

Adele stared at her with surprise and curiosity. She didn’t understand where all of this was coming from.

Brooklynne laughed. “You’re weird.”

They were interrupted by the sound of the back door opening and closing.

“Hey, Miss Stackhouse,” Tara said with a smile as she stepped in the kitchen. She was wearing a blue top and a pair of jeans and her black hair was tied up in a messy bun.

“Good morning, Tara,” Adele greeted.

Tara went for the coffee pot, but it was empty. As she was about to make more, Adele stopped her.

“No, you sit down. I’ll make a new pot,” she said before she kissed her forehead.

“All right,” Tara laughed.

She sat between Sookie and Brooklynne with an empty mug in her hand.

“What’s up, Brooke?”

The girl raised her head and smiled as soon as she saw her friend, as if she hadn’t heard her come in.

“Hi Tara.”

“What are we thinking about today?”

Brooklynne ignored the question, as always, and leaned forward, putting her pale hand on Tara’s dark arm.

“You’re pretty,” she smiled.

Tara laughed. “Well, aren’t you cute?”

Brooklynne smiled again but didn’t reply. She then leaned back in her seat and started playing with the bottom of her shirt again, ignoring the rest of the world.

“Any news about Jason?”

“Yeah, we heard from Everly already. They let him go last night.”

“I knew they would.”

“I didn’t,” Sookie shrugged.

Tara was offended by the lack of faith her sister had in her brother. He was dumb, for sure, but he wasn’t a murderer.

“Well, I’m glad to see you’re still alive. You obviously did not hook up with that vampire last night.”

Brooklynne chuckled, still looking down at her lap. Sookie and Tara gave her a quick look but went back to ignoring her. The look on Sookie’s face answered Tara’s question.

“Oh, Sookie, sometimes you are just plain dumb.”

“Shut up! Luckily Gran was in bed when I got in last night.”

“Did he bite you?”

“No.”

“Are you sure? You know they can hypnotize you.”

“Yeah, and black people are lazy, and Jews have horns!”

Tara rolled her eyes. She turned around when she heard Adele coming back in the kitchen.

“You must be glad they let Jason go, huh, Miss Stackhouse.”

“I can’t even believe that they arrested him to begin with! I have a good mind to call Bud Dearborne and chew him out. Jason’s a good boy. Everybody knows that.”

Brooklynne chuckled again. No one had time to say anything more as the phone started to ring and Adele picked it up.

“Hello? Oh, hey! Everley!” she greeted over the phone as she left the kitchen.

As soon as she was gone, Jason came in by the backdoor.

“Am I too late for breakfast?” he asked. “Oh, hey Tara!”

“Hey. Hey Jason,” she stuttered like a 15-year-old talking to her crush. “I’m so glad they didn’t lock you up.”

Jason opened the fridge and took out a plate of cold sausages. He froze for a few seconds then turned around and leaned against the fridge.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, me too. I don’t even know why they suspected me,” he continued as he took a bite of a sausage. “I think somebody heard I’d been with Maudette?”

“Had you?” Sookie asked.

“No,” he answered with an annoyed tone.

“Are you sure? She was a woman,” his sister insisted.

Jason sighed in annoyance. “That’s funny. At least she was human.”

Sookie gave him a dark look but didn’t have time to come up with an answer as her grandmother came back in the kitchen with some news.

“You will never believe what happened,” she said with excitement, “Oh, hey Jason.”

“Hey, Gran.”

“You sit down. I’ll fix you breakfast.”

“What happened?” Sookie asked.

“Well, apparently, a tornado touched down over at Four Tracks Corners,” she said with a sudden dark tone, “It turned over that rent trailer in the clearing. You know the one?”

“Uh-huh…”

“And it killed that couple that’s been staying in there.”

“Wh- Mack and Denise Rattray?” Jason asked.

“They were trapped under the trailer. Mike Spencer said they were crushed to a pulp.”

Brooklynne laughed out loud suddenly, and even though they all turned to look at her, they didn’t think it was because of what Adele had just said. She just did that, sometimes.

“A _tornado_,” she repeated with a small laugh as she played with the bottom of her shirt.

***

Adele spent the day cleaning the house. Brooklynne helped at the beginning but quickly got distracted. She was laying on the couch, looking at her own hair, when Sookie came back in the house. Adele was vacuuming in the living room.

“You know, he sleeps in the ground all day. I don’t think he’s gonna even look at the rug.”

“I’m not doing this for him. I’m doing this for me. So I can be proud of my home. And how do you know where he sleeps?”

“I don’t, actually,” she chuckled. She then tilted her head and squinted her eyes. “What’s that smell?”

Adele turned off the vacuum. “What smell?”

Brooklynne sat up and watched her sister sniff around the living room.

“It smells like rotten food or something. You can’t smell that?”

Adele shook her head no and Brooklynne shrugged.

“Well find it.”

Sookie took a few more steps and pushed the armchair a little, then bent over and found a piece of old biscuit on the floor.

“Uh, you can’t smell this?”

Adele shook her head no again and gave her granddaughter a weird look.

“Well, I better throw this out.”

As she was about to exit the living room, her grandmother stopped her.

“Oh, Sookie?”

“Yeah?”

“Jason and Tara are coming over this evening as well.”

Sookie’s eyes grew big as bad scenarios went through her mind.

“Gran…”

“Well, they invited themselves. Jason said that he wants to meet the vampire for himself and… Tara said she thought she ought to be here as well.”

“I don’t know why everyone’s getting their panties in a wad about some stupid vampire!” Sookie whined.

“Did you want to be alone with him?”

Sookie shook her head and shrugged, “I don’t know… maybe…”

Adele grinned.

“Aren’t you gonna tell me to be careful?”

“You’re always careful, Sookie, about what counts. And I can depend on that. Isn’t that right?”

Sookie paused for a minute. She then nodded before she turned around and left.

***

Bill arrived with the night. All eyes were on him. Jason’s were more like daggers. He was looking at the vampire as if he had killed his entire family. Tara’s look was more suspicious, while Brooklynne was extremely curious. Sookie hadn’t lied. She couldn’t hear his thoughts. Not even when she tried. It was completely silent. A peaceful sensation Brooke had never felt before. She was fascinated. So was her grandmother, but for a completely different reason.

“Your people, Mr. Compton, they were from this area, I believe?”

“Yeah, my father’s people were Comptons and my mother’s people were Loudermilks.”

“Oh, there are a lot of Loudermilks left. But I’m afraid old Mr. Jesse Compton died last year.”

“Yes, ma’am. That’s why I came back to Bon Temps. There were no living Comptons, so I’ve set up home in the old Compton place. And as I expect the VRA to pass…”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be too sure about that if I were you,” Jason interrupted him. “A lot of Americans don’t think you people deserve special rights.”

“They’re the same rights you have.”

“No, I’m just saying there’s a reason things are the way they are.”

“Yeah. It’s called injustice.”

Jason’s mouth twitched out of anger.

“Listen, it’s called ‘this is how we do it’.”

“Jason!” Adele stopped him. “This is my house. I will not tolerate rudeness!”

Jason grunted but leaned back in the armchair. Bill was obviously angry, and it was his eyes now that were daggers.

“Did you know the Stackhouses, Mr. Compton?” Adele continued her interrogation.

“Yes, um… I remember Jonas Stackhouse. He and his wife moved here when Bon Temps was just a hole in the road. I was a young man of 16. Isn’t this the house he built? I mean, at least in part?”

“Yes, it was,” Adele nodded with enthusiasm.

“Did you own slaves?”

“Tara!” Sookie breathed out, surprised by the sudden question.

“I did not. But my father did. A house slave, a middle-aged woman whose name I cannot recall and a yard slave, a young, strong man named Minas.”

“Oh, these are just the sort of things my club will be so interested in hearing about.”

“About slaves?” Tara asked quite aggressively.

“Well… about anything having to do with that time…”

An awkward and uncomfortable silence settled which was mercifully broken by Bill.

“I look forward to speaking to your club, Mrs. Stackhouse.”

Adele laughed like a 16-year-old.

“Now… if it’s alright with you, I thought that Sookie and I might take a walk. It’s such a lovely night.”

“Well, it’s alright with me if it’s alright with Sookie.”

Jason put his beer down and got up.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said.

“Jason, sit down and shut up,” Brooklynne said calmly, calmer than anyone who would say that would, as if she expected him to comply instantly. And he did.

Bill frowned as he watched the young Stackhouse immobile in his seat. It was as if she had just glamoured him without even looking at him, without even having the powers of a vampire.

“Um… shall we?” Bill asked Sookie as he held his hand.

“We shall,” she said as she took it.

Once they were out of the house, Jason turned to look at his sister and complained.

“I told you not to do that to me! You made me look like a fool in front of him!”

“Oh Jason,” Adele said as she got up, “You don’t need any help to look like a fool.”

***

Brooklynne was lying in her bed, in the darkness of her room, when Sookie came back home. The entire evening was still fresh in her memory and Brooke saw all of it. She learnt that Bill’s blood was inside Sookie, that it was the reason for her acute senses and the weird wet dreams, and that Bill would be able to find Sookie at any time. To feel her when she was in trouble and come to the rescue as fast as possible. Information Sookie had had trouble to take in. But not for long as the evening ended with a kiss. And the night ended with another wet dream.

***

Days passed and Sookie kept seeing Bill. Though it seemed she wasn’t sure about her feelings. She had admitted to Adele and Brooklynne she was scared of him and Brooklynne knew why. She knew everything all the time. That’s why she was always so tired, so absent. But she was aware.

Sookie had had an unfortunate meeting with three other vampires, a moment during which Bill showed his dark side, his vampire side. He called her ‘his’, so that other vampires would leave her alone, as if it made her safe or safer.

She thought she was at least safe during the day, but even that proved to be untrue as one morning, while she was doing a favor for Sam, her boss, she found her colleague, Dawn, a waitress and Jason’s ‘friend’, dead in her bed. That same morning, Jason got arrested again.

Adele was worried. She knew people would want to know who was killing those young ladies and she was afraid they’d come after Jason. She asked Sookie to keep her ears open and to listen carefully in case she would hear the killer or find out who had done it.

Brooklynne wanted to help too, but she knew her grandmother wouldn’t let her leave the house.

An opportunity arose, however, when Sookie came back home from work sooner than she should have. She had made plans with Bill to go to a vampire bar in Shreveport called ‘Fangtasia’ and try to find some information that would help Jason. Brooke wasn’t going to let that opportunity pass.

“I’m going with you.”

“No way!” Sookie said as she fixed her makeup. “I’m not taking you to a vampire bar!”

“Why not? You’re going! And I’m bored! I wanna leave the house and I wanna help, you know I can do it!”

“I know you can do it, it’s not about that, it’s just… it’s too dangerous!”

“I can defend myself, you know that!”

“I also know that other people, especially vampires, shouldn’t know it.”

“Well, I’m going with you, I’m not asking. I’m an adult and I can do whatever I want.”

Sookie sighed. She stayed silent for a minute, fixed her outfit, a white dress with red flowers on it, and put on her shoes, red ballerina flats.

“He thinks it’s a date,” Brooke continued.

“What?”

“He thinks it’s a date. If I’m there, there would be no doubt about it.”

“How do you know what he thinks?”

“I watch movies,” she shrugged. “A lot of them.”

Sookie rolled her eyes. It was a good argument though she didn’t really mind being alone with Bill. But she didn’t want him to know that.

“Fine! You can come with me.”

Brooklynne smiled, victorious.

“But you have to stay with me, all the time.”

“I will,” she nodded. “I won’t leave your side, I promise.”

“And you have to stay focused. Be careful.”

“I will! I promise!”

“Fine then,” Sookie sighed. “Come on.”

***

“Wh- you’re taking Brooke?” Adele asked Sookie in a whisper as if her granddaughter wouldn’t hear her.

“She can help. And it’ll be good for her to leave the house.”

“Well, I agree, but… a vampire bar isn’t the safest place…”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Stackhouse,” Bill interrupted her. “I promise no harm will come to your granddaughters.”

Adele smiled awkwardly. “Ah, well… if you insist…” she said with worry in her voice.

“Good night, Mrs. Stackhouse.”

“Oh, go- good night, Mr. Compton. Be careful girls.”

“Bye, Gran.”

The three of them left the house and got into Bill’s car, Sookie in the passenger seat and Brooklynne in the back. She was wearing one of Sookie’s dresses, a short yellow sleeveless gown, and a pair of low heels yellow pumps. Her long blonde hair was caressing her nude back. She was excited to finally be going out, to meet more vampires, and to clear her brother’s name.

***

When they arrived at Fangtasia, Sookie immediately took her sister’s hand, to make sure she wouldn’t go anywhere. As they were walking towards the bar, Bill put his arm around Sookie’s waist and brought her to him, in a protective way. It was awkward to be holding her sister’s hand while being in the arms of a man and she unconsciously let her sister’s hand go.

Once they were inside, they were immediately greeted by a female blonde vampire wearing a leather black sleeveless dress and high heel pumps. She was wearing a lot of makeup, including a very red lipstick.

“Bill. Haven’t seen you in a while,” she said in a completely disinterested tone.

“I’m mainstreaming.”

“Good for you,” she almost rolled her eyes as she replied with a bored tone as if she didn’t care or didn’t like it, “Who’s the doll?” she asked, sounding almost interested.

“Pam this is Sookie, and her sister, Brooklynne. Sookie, Brooklynne, this is Pam.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Sookie smiled at her as she held out her hand.

Pam looked at it as if it contained the plague.

“Can I see your ID?”

The request made Sookie laugh, however she understood why she would ask. Brooklynne looked like a teenager.

“I can no longer tell human ages. We must be careful we serve no minors, in any capacity.”

She took a look at both IDs before she gave them back to their owners.

“Twenty-five, huh? How sweet it is,” she said as she looked at Bill. She was mostly interested by Sookie, probably because she was the one in Bill’s arms, Brooklynne thought.

She finally let them pass and Brooklynne took her sister’s hand again as they walked past Pam.

The club was crowded, loud, dark and red. There were dancers everywhere, male and female, some vampires, some humans, most of them were half naked, wearing black leather and black lipstick. It was almost like the cliché vampire bar one would imagine. The humans came for the danger, the vampires came for the fun of it.

“This feels a little bit like what a vampire bar would look like if it were a… a ride at Disney World,” Sookie said. However, Brooklynne couldn’t picture any of this in Disney World. Too much nudity.

“Well, don’t get too comfortable. It tends to get more authentic as the night wears on.”

“There are more humans here than vampires,” Brooklynne noticed as the loud thoughts of the customers echoed in her head.

They took the direction of the bar where a vampire asked them what they wanted to drink. He had medium long black hair, dark eyes, and tattoos on both arms. He was shirtless, only wearing a sleeveless black leather vest. He looked tired, though maybe that was just because of the eyeliner around his eyes.

“How’s it going Bill?”

“Very well.”

“I’ll say it is. This is your meal for tonight?”

“This is my friend Sookie, and her sister, Brooklynne. Sookie, Brooklynne, Longshadow.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sookie politely greeted, but once again received no answer. “I’ll have a gin and tonic, please.”

“And I’ll have a bottle of O-negative.”

“And what about the sister?”

Brooklynne didn’t give him an answer. She didn’t realize he was talking to her. The voices in her head were too loud and she got distracted. Sookie took her hand, making her sister look at her and focus once again.

“She’ll have a coke,” Sookie answered for her.

“Longshadow, Sookie here, would like to know if she could ask you a few questions. Would this be acceptable?”

“I just have a couple of pictures I’d love you to take a look at,” she said as she took the photos of Maudette and Dawn out of her bag, “Do you recognize either of these women?”

Longshadow took the pictures and put them on the bar.

“Yeah, I’ve seen them both here before.”

“Great! Thank you,” Sookie said quickly and enthusiastically, as she was happy he was cooperating and wanted him to continue, “Do you also happen to remember who they hung around with?”

“That’s something we don’t notice here. You won’t either.”

“Okay, then. Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time.”

“This one,” he said as he took Maudette’s picture. “She wanted to die.”

Sookie frowned. “How do you know?”

“Everyone who comes here does, in their own way. That’s who we are: Death.”

Sookie didn’t reply. What could she say to that? Bill paid for the drinks and they walked away. They settled at a table and Sookie started listening to the people around her. Brooklynne was already “scanning” the area. She tried to block out the music which she found horrible. A man was screaming some words she couldn’t understand over loud guitar and drums. She found other people’s thoughts more pleasant for once.

Sookie heard a man among the crowd of clients, he was thinking about the blond vampire sitting on the throne on the stage at the end of the room. He walked slowly towards him and kneeled near him. He put his hand on the vampire’s leg and started moving it up his thigh. Suddenly, the vampire, who had been silently staring at the bald man until then, got up with vampire speed, and pushed him away. The man, who looked like he was in his forties, fell down and hurt his head which started to bleed. A female vampire with short brown hair and a short black dress helped the human get up and they disappeared in an instant.

“Still think you’re in Disneyland?” Bill told Sookie who chose to ignore him.

“Do you hear anything?” Sookie asked her little sister.

“A lot of things,” she replied. “Nothing helpful. It’s loud.”

_“How come no one fucked me? I got a dog collar too.”_

_“Morticia, how’d you like me to rip that tape off your tits?”_

_“It ain’t gay if a guy’s a vampire, is it?”_

_“I’m gonna get kicked out of my frat if I don’t fuck a vampire tonight.”_

“You’re able to pick up anything?” Bill asked Sookie after a while.

“All anyone’s thinking about here is sex, sex, sex.”

“One needn’t be telepathic to pick up on that.”

Suddenly, Bill straightened up. “Uh-oh.”

“Don’t say ‘uh-oh’. Vampires are not supposed to say ‘uh-oh’!”

“It’s Eric,” he said as he looked at the blond vampire on the ‘throne’. “He’s scanned you twice. He’s going to summon us,” he told her like it was a bad thing, something he’d had preferred to avoid.

“He can do that?”

“Oh, yeah...”

And as he said it, Eric gestured for them to come. Bill held out his hand but before she took it, she looked over at her sister, who was looking inside her empty glass of coke. Gone, as usual.

“Brooklynne, come on.”

The girl looked up and gave her a confused look.

“Come on,” Sookie said again as she took her hand.

Sookie squeezed her sister’s hand as they approached Eric. Pam was standing behind him, her arm resting on the top of the ‘throne’.

“Bill Compton. It has been a while.”

“Yes, well, I’ve been…”

“Mainstreaming,” Eric cut him off. He said it with a grin, as if it was something to be ashamed of. “I heard.” He looked over at Sookie, who was on Bill’s left, holding his hand. “I see that is going well for you.” He then, looked at Brooklynne, who was standing a little behind Sookie, squeezing her sister’s hand too, and looking at Eric and Pam with a sort of fascination. The silence in their head was relaxing. “_Very_ well, apparently,” he chuckled.

“Yes, of course, sorry,” Bill said. “Eric, these are my friends…”

“Sookie and Brooklynne Stackhouse.”

“How do you know our names?”

“I never forget a pretty face. You’re in my vault,” Pam said as she pointed a finger at her head.

“Great. That’s just great,” Sookie blabbered, not sure how to handle that information. “It’s nice to meet you,” she told Eric.

“Well, aren’t you sweet?” he grinned mockingly.

“Not really.”

As she said it, Bill squeezed her hand to stop her and Brooklynne laughed. It was a childlike laugh. A laugh that Eric never thought he’d hear in Fangtasia and a laugh that had no place in his club. It made Eric smirk.

“**Vår lilla djurpark börjar växa till sig**,” Eric said. (Looks like our zoo is growing.)

“**Jag vet**,” Pam replied. (I know.)

“I think he just called you a pet,” Brooke whispered in Sookie’s ear.

“How do you know?” her sister gave her a weird look which Brooklynne ignored.

“You speak Swedish?” Eric asked, suddenly very interested.

“**Ja. Inte lika bra som dig**,” she said with an amused smile. (Yes, but not better than you.)

“You speak Swedish?” Sookie was taken aback. “How?”

“The internet,” she shrugged.

“Well, your friend is full of surprises, Bill,” Eric grinned.

“I know right?” Sookie sulked.

“I understand you’ve been asking questions about some of my customers.”

“Yes, I have.”

“If you have anything to ask, you should ask it of me.”

“Alrighty,” Sookie nodded. She took out the pictures from her bag and gave them to Eric. “You recognize either one of these girls?”

He took a look at them and smirked as he hummed, probably remembering something pleasant.

“This one offered herself to me,” he said, pointing at the photo of Maudette. “But I found her too pathetic for my attentions. Now, this one, however,” he continued, pointing at Dawn, “I have tasted.”

“I remember them both,” Pam said.

“On account of the vault?” Sookie asked, not caring she was being sassy with a vampire, or not realizing it. Brooklynne laughed quietly, looking up at her big sister. Bill quickly took Sookie’s hand again, to stop her. Eric noticed. Pam didn’t budge. “Never had either of them, though. They weren’t really my type.”

_“Are you hearing anything?” _Sookie asked silently to her sister who shook her head no.

“Well, thank you very much. That is all your time I need to take,” Sookie said as she took the pictures back from Eric.

“I’m not finished with you yet,” he said quickly and dryly. “Please,” he gave her a fake smile that didn’t seem friendly at all, “Sit.”

Sookie looked over at Bill and she understood from the look on his face that they didn’t really have a choice. She looked at the chairs next to Eric’s ‘throne’, one on his right and one on his left, and realized there wasn’t enough chairs for the three of them. Bill gestured Sookie to sit on Eric’s right while he let Brooklynne sit on his left.

“Well, we can’t let poor Mr. Compton without a chair,” Eric said as he raised a hand stopping Brooklynne from sitting.

“I’m fine.”

“I insist,” Eric continued as he rested his hand on his lap as a silent command to the young woman.

Brooklynne’s eyes grew big, though not out of fear but surprise. She looked at her sister who shook her head no.

“Really, Eric, I’m fine on my feet.”

“Sit,” Eric ordered. He would not be refused.

Bill sighed. He silently and slowly walked over to the chair on Eric’s left and sat down. Eric smirked at Brooklynne as he held out his hand.

“**Jag insisterar**.” (I insist.)

Brooke hesitated for a few seconds but then smiled, amused, as she took his hand. She sat on his lap, turning her back to Bill and facing her worried sister.

“**Oroa dig inte. Jag kommer inte att bita**,” he said with a smug smile. (Don't worry. I won't bite.)

“**Jag är inte orolig**,” she replied with a smile of her own as she put her hand on his shoulder. (I'm not worried.)

Eric chuckled, almost impressed. “I like you.” He kept his hands to himself, something Brooklynne appreciated particularly. “So Bill, are you quite attached to your friend?” he asked as he looked Sookie up and down.

“She is mine,” Bill immediately said with a threatening tone.

“Yes, I am his.”

“Good. I imagine you aren’t his, then,” he told Brooklynne as he looked back at her.

“That’s right,” she replied, wondering why he’d even be interested in her, and wishing she could hear what he was thinking, for once.

_“Where the fuck are they? My backup was supposed to be here 15 minutes ago. I can’t handle a raid on my own. These fucking vampires…”_

The undercover police officer's thoughts resonated in Sookie’s head and set off loud alarms.

“We have to get out of here!” she said suddenly, making Eric and Pam raise their eyebrows and look at her like she was crazy.

“Sookie!” Bill reprimanded her rudeness.

“Eric, the cops are coming! There’s gonna be a raid!”

Brooklynne frowned at the new information. Sookie heard something she didn’t? That was unusual. She straightened up and focused on the room.

“Tell me you’re not an undercover cop,” Eric asked with a threatening tone.

“I’m not but that man in the hat is,” Sookie replied as she gestured towards the man.

“Even if you’re right, we do nothing illegal here.”

“There’s a vampire in the ladies’ room, she’s feeding on a man,” Brooklynne said, in a surprisingly calm tone.

“How do you know this?” Pam asked.

Brooke looked up at her, then at Sookie, who shook her head no. Before she had the chance to reply, however, the police barged in.

“Police! Police! Freeze!”

They all got up at the sudden entrance, and Eric instructed them to follow him.

“Hands where I can see them!”

They exited through the back door.

“I enjoyed meeting you, Miss Stackhouse. You will come again,” he told Brooklynne before he disappeared in the night with Pam.

Bill, Sookie and Brooke ran towards the direction of the car and left as fast as they could. They were quiet in the vehicle, listening to Bill’s foreign music, neither girl could tell what language they were speaking, though Brooklynne imagined it was some kind of Asian language. Brooklynne kept thinking about Eric, how peaceful it had been to be near him, the silence that had overtook her as she was sitting on his lap. She couldn’t figure out why he had found her so interesting though she supposed it didn’t really matter. He probably didn’t want to do anything pleasant with her.

A car appeared suddenly behind them and blinded Bill’s rear-view mirror with a bright yellow light.

“Shoot,” Sookie breathed out as she realized it was a police car. “Pull over.”

Bill obliged. He knew what was coming. A suspicious policeman worried that Bill was taking advantage of two young women. There was only one way he’d get out of this without any issue and he didn’t imagine Sookie would be pleased by what she was about to see him do.

The police car flashed its light behind Bill’s as the officer walked towards the driver’s seat. He knocked on the door and instructed the vampire to open the window.

“Brooke, can you take care of this?” Sookie said suddenly, surprising and confusing Bill.

“With pleasure,” she replied with a satisfied smile. She was happy to finally be allowed to use her abilities.

“Hello, officer,” Sookie greeted.

“Evening, miss. What are you three doing out this late?”

“Nothing. And that’s a good enough answer for you,” Brooke merely said. “Now turn around and drive away.”

Without another word, the police officer did exactly as she said. He got back into his car and drove away.

“How do you do that?” Bill asked, completely baffled.

Brooke shrugged. “I don’t know. I just do it.”

“You can glamour people without any effort! Only vampires can do that!”

“What’s ‘glamour’?”

“Vampires can hypnotize people,” Sookie explained, “make them do things…”

“Can we go home?” she stopped her as if she weren’t interested anymore, “I’m tired.”

Sookie chuckled as if she were used to it.

“Of course,” Bill nodded as he started driving again.

***

The next morning, Brooklynne got up late. The adventures of the previous night had tired her, and she wanted to be well rested to attend her grandmother’s meeting. “Vampire Bill” talking at the church was all the town could talk about that day. It rose curiosity among the people of Bon Temps and a “Descendants of the Glorious Dead” meeting had never seen so many people. Everybody was there. The sheriff, Bud Dearborne, wearing his uniform for some reason. Tara and Jason. Sam Merlotte, who hated Bill, though not so much because he was a vampire but rather because he had a crush on Sookie himself. Arlene, Sookie’s colleague and vampire hater, who had come with René and her two children who had begged her to take them. All the seats of the church were taken. But they were less interested in what he had to say about the Civil War and more about the vampire himself.

Brooklynne was cursed to hear every single one of their thoughts, one more stupid than the other. But she managed to hear what the vampire was saying, despite Sam’s angry thoughts provoked by the mere sight of the vampire, and other dirty images that showed up in his mind about her sister.

The meeting went rather well and even made the crowd wet their eyes. It was a miracle that between a Jason high on V, three stupid high school drop outs armed with garlic, and several vampire haters sitting on every bench, nothing wrong had occurred.

Most of the town headed out to Merlotte’s after the meeting. Bill and Sookie, however, felt like having some alone time together. Adele agreed to let Brooke go to the bar after Sam promised to watch over her. He let her bartend with Tara who taught her how to make some drinks but didn’t let her drink them. She got tired around 2AM however and Sam drove her back. The lights were out which Sam found odd. He was sure Adele would be waiting for her granddaughter.

“Looks like everybody’s sleeping.”

“No, nobody’s home…” she said quietly, more surprised than him. Adele would be at home at this hour. Unless an emergency had forced her to leave. But if that had happened, she’s have called to warn Sam about it.

“How do you know?”

Brooklynne didn’t answer and got out of the car. Sam followed her inside the house. The floor was slippery, and she almost fell as she stepped inside the kitchen. Sam turned on the lights and they were suddenly faced with horror. Blood everywhere. A pool of red liquid surrounding Adele Stackhouse’s dead body. Brooklynne’s mind suddenly became blank. All she could hear was a loud buzzing sound, all she could see was her dead grandmother lying in a pool of her own blood. The buzzing sound turned into a loud shriek. A terrified scream that she didn’t understand was coming from her.


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting at the table in the kitchen, Brooklynne couldn’t look away from the floor. It was clean now, Sookie had made sure all the blood was washed away as soon as the police had gone. But Brooklynne could still see it, as if it were still there, as if it couldn’t be washed away, as if it would always be there and nothing could make it go away. And in a way, nothing could, because nothing and no one could bring back Adele Stackhouse to life.

It was odd for both Stackhouses to stand in the kitchen knowing their grandmother would never stand there again with them. It was hard for Brooklynne to imagine a life without her grandmother. She had raised her, taken care of her, kept her secrets. And now she was alone. Sookie and Jason had a life to get back to. She didn’t.

Neither sisters had talked to their brother ever since that night. The last time they saw him was at the church, when Bill was speaking at the “Descendants of the Glorious Dead” meeting. It angered Sookie, but Brooklynne couldn’t even think about it. Her mind wasn’t her own. Especially not now that a crowd of strangers/neighbors/friends had gathered in her house to pay their respect to Adele Stackhouse.

Food was piling up on the table. With each plate came apologies, condolences, tears… Everything that people were supposed to say and that nobody wanted to hear. Fortunately for Brooklynne, people usually ignored her. They knew it was useless to even try talking to her as she never seemed to hear them, or listen to them. But unfortunately, she did hear them, though she wished she could stop listening. For most people who stepped inside her house just wanted to see where it had happened, trying to find a speck of blood, waiting for Sookie to lose it, to do something weird and freaky. They were all convinced that she had done it. Murdered her own grandmother. Why? Because she was a freak. And that was what freaks did. They killed people. Didn’t matter if it didn’t make sense, if it were their own flesh and blood, their only parent left. Brooklynne heard it all. How it was Sookie who must have done it and not her because she was too ‘retarded’ to be violent. She wasn’t a freak like her sister, no, she was retarded, stupid, crazy, etc. She was too much of a moron to kill someone. Brooklynne didn’t care. Maybe it was because she had been called that her entire life. Maybe it was because she just didn’t care what other people thought of her. It didn’t make her angry or sad. It was how it was. People sucked. And she knew that. Any telepath knew that. They heard things people thought and didn’t say aloud because it was too horrible, because it was easier to lie, because they were hypocrites. She heard things even terrible people wouldn’t dare say aloud. And now, these people were in her house. Judging her, judging her sister, when they had no idea what had really happened. Like flies attracted to garbage. They lived for it. The gossip. The gore. The feeling of being superior to someone else. Easier for Brooklynne to ignore them all.

At some point in the morning, Tara had dragged her and Sookie upstairs after the older sister had yelled at Maxine Fortenberry for touching what was left of her gran’s last pie. But even in Sookie’s bedroom, Brooklynne could still hear every single one of their horrible thoughts. They mixed together, becoming one big headache.

It all disappeared in an instant however, when her brother entered the bedroom suddenly. The door swung open, startling all three of them. Sookie stood on her feet to greet him but she barely had the time to say a word that he slapped her hard across the face, making her fall over on her bed. Brooklynne gasped, not only because of the violence of his action, but because of the violence of his thoughts.

“What the fuck?!” Tara shouted as she got off the bed to push him away.

“It’s your fault!” he yelled. “Gran is dead because of you. It should have been you!”

“Bitch, don’t you lay a hand on her!” Tara stopped him as he tried to take a step forward.

“She’s screwing a vampire, Tara. A fucking vampire!” he growled, making Brooklynne jump.

“Yeah, well, that vampire was there for her when you weren’t! You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Is that how your grandma raised you? To beat on your own sister? Look at you! I don’t even recognize you anymore. Get the hell out of here! Get out!” she yelled at him, pushing him out of the room, slamming the door in his face. “You okay?” she asked both sisters as she returned to the bed.

Brooklynne could hear Sookie think Jason was right. That it was her fault somehow. That the killer hadn’t been there for Adele, but for her. Because, like Maudette and Dawn, she had been with a vampire, and, unlike them, she wasn’t shy about it. Because she had brought Bill to Adele’s life and that if it hadn’t been for her, her grandmother would have never met Bill, and she wouldn’t have invited him to host a meeting, and she would still be alive.

“It’s not your fault,” Brooklynne told her, uttering her first words of the day.

Her sister didn’t reply.

***

Tara had kicked everyone out of the house tactlessly. Nothing Tara did was tactful. But at least it was efficient. She and Lafayette had been kind enough to stay over. They cleaned, took care of all the food, made sure both Sookie and Brooke were doing okay.

Neither women were ready for the funeral. Especially not Brooklynne. She didn’t do well in public. She’d have to hear all of the terrible thoughts of whoever was going to show up. And she’d have to say goodbye to her grandmother for good. She wasn’t ready for that at all.

Sitting between Jason and Sookie, Brooklynne tried to focus on the red-headed woman who was singing before them. Jason looked sick and was sweating profusely on his chair. She knew why. All he could think about was getting more ‘V’. Vampire blood. What an idiot. He was sweating for drugs at his grandmother’s funeral. How could he somehow be worse off than her?

But that stopped to be true as a young man showed up in the cemetery, pushing an old man in a wheelchair towards them. Brooklynne straightened up as she saw him approach them, approach her. She seized Sookie’s hand who squeezed it almost immediately. Her sister wasn’t happy to see him either, in fact, they were both uncomfortable and scared. Not because their safety was at risk in any way, but because his presence brought back memories for them both. Memories they wished would stay buried forever.

The young man positioned their uncle Bartlett next to Jason and Sookie stared at him with disgust. Brooklynne couldn’t even look at the old man.

“What are you doing here?” the waitress asked.

“She was my sister,” he replied with a tired voice.

“You haven’t been part of this family in a long time.”

“Sook, come on,” Jason stopped her. “Give the guy a break.”

His sister gave him a dark look but said nothing. Brooklynne tried as hard as she could to stay out of his mind, of anyone else’s mind, but all she could see and hear were old memories she wanted to bury again. She got up suddenly, well aware of all the pairs of eyes on her, exited the cemetery, then ran back home. The voices faded away as the cemetery disappeared behind her. The house wasn’t far away, in fact, it was very close. She entered her empty home, walked up the stairs, stepped in her bedroom and lay down on her bed where she fell asleep for the rest of the day.

***

Days passed, and even though Jason still hadn’t apologized for slapping Sookie, he came by from time to time to eat their food and steal some silverware. Brooklynne knew why he needed the money, though she hadn’t told Sookie yet. She was waiting, perhaps foolishly, for her brother to sober up and stop being an idiot. But it didn’t look like it was going to happen any time soon.

She heard him come in one night. She was in her bedroom, reading one of her grandmother’s bad romance novels, when his thoughts invaded her own. He was going through drawers, looking under the armchairs and the couches, in between cushions and pillows, hoping to find some cash. He was desperate. He needed V and he needed it now. As he grew more miserable by the minute, he made a decision that Brooklynne knew he’d come to regret, and probably with his life. He exited the house with a destination in mind, a club Brooklynne had been before, somewhere she knew he would find what he was looking for, but he would also find something else, something he wasn’t ready for. And neither was she. She had just lost her grandmother, she couldn’t let her big brother get himself killed like the junkie idiot that he was.

She called a taxi as soon as he left. When she arrived at Fangtasia, she saw her brother’s truck was already there, but she couldn’t see nor him anywhere. He was probably already inside. She paid the driver then walked through the crowd of vampires, ignoring them as they looked at her like she was their next meal. She didn’t know if it would be scarier to hear what they’d like to do to her or if it were better she didn’t.

When she reached the entrance, she found Pam blocking the door. The vampire looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Her eyes slowly moved from her face to her feet, then back up to her eyes. Brooklynne would have felt self-conscious if she had cared. She was wearing a knee-length dark blue dress with long sleeves, nothing fancy, and a headband of the same color, but it didn’t stop strands of blond hair from falling across her face. She was the complete opposite of the vampire who was wearing a black short dress with a very revealing cleavage, as much makeup as she had the last time, with a dark red lipstick and colored cheeks.

“Look who’s back,” Pam said in her usual uninterested tone. “What’s the little lamb doing here on her own?”

“I’m looking for my brother,” she replied, and the lack of fear in her voice surprised the vampire. “Have you seen him?”

“Jason Stackhouse? Tall, blond, cute idiot?”

“That’s him.”

“Yeah I saw him.”

Brooklynne waited for the vampire to tell her where he was and what she knew but Pam stayed silent.

“Um… is he inside?”

“Do you know your brother’s looking for vampire blood?”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here.”

“To do what, exactly?”

“Send him home.”

Pam smiled as if she were amused. “He didn’t look like he’d go anywhere without what he’s looking for.”

“I’m extremely persuasive.”

“Good for you,” she said as she stepped aside. “Have fun inside.”

Brooke nodded. “Thanks.”

She felt Pam’s eyes on her until she got inside. It was as dark, loud and chaotic as it had been the first time. Somehow, she had felt better outside with the vampires. A crowd of humans was scarier to her than any crowd of undead people. She looked around, trying to find her tall, blond cute, idiot of a brother. It took her a minute or two, but she eventually found him in the middle of the crowd, being dragged away from the bar by a woman she had never met. She made their way to them.

“Jason!”

His eyes grew big as he saw his little sister walk towards him. “Brooke? What the fuck are you doing here?”

She didn’t reply but she wanted to. Formulating the words were difficult. She had to pick them from her mind but there were too many unwanted thoughts in there at the moment.

“Brooke, hey,” Jason waved a hand in front of her eyes, “stay with me!”

“You need to leave,” she told him quickly before she would be unable to do so.

“_I _need to leave? I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to leave the house alone! Does Sookie know you’re here?”

“No, just like she doesn’t know why you’ve been stealing from Gran _and_ why you’re sweating like you just ran 10 miles!”

“Whoever that is is right,” the woman he was with said, “You’re going to get yourself killed if you keep at it.”

“That’s my sister, Brooke, and who the fuck are you?”

“Jason!” Brooke called her brother’s attention once more. “Go home and don’t come back.”

As soon as she said it, he started to walk away. He didn’t say anything or do anything else, he just did as she asked. The stranger gave a weird look to Brooke before she followed Jason out of the club. Brooke wanted to stop her, but some nasty thoughts and images appeared in her mind, making her jump and lose focus. She brought a hand to her head, then took a deep breath. It was dangerous for her to be alone, especially in a crowd. She could lose focus so easily and end up somewhere without knowing how or without any way to go home.

She turned around, looking for the door, but the noise blinded her. Someone was angry, someone was sad, someone wanted something they couldn’t get. Most people were drunk, some were high, it didn’t make a difference. She could hear them all. She moved, not knowing where she was going, trying to step away, to get as far from the noise as she could. But as soon as she took a step, she bumped into someone. Someone tall and strong. Someone who hadn’t been there a second ago. Someone empty.

“Well, hello there.”

She looked up to see Eric smirking down at her. He looked amused. She didn’t feel like smiling back. She looked around, looking for an exit, ignoring, or forgetting, the vampire. She tried to step away, but he stopped her, placing a hand on her arm.

“Miss Stackhouse, are you drunk?” he asked mockingly.

“No,” she answered, still looking for an exit.

“Why don’t you come with me? I’m feeling a little lonely up there on my own,” he said, gesturing towards the stage where three seats were waiting for them.

She exhaled, trying to focus, but it was just too loud. The music wasn’t helping either.

“I can’t hear you,” she said, and she didn’t mean it like he understood it.

Usually, when people touched her, or when she touched people, it made their thoughts louder and clearer, easier to focus on. But he was different. She couldn’t hear anything from him but silence. She put a hand over his and focused on his empty mind.

But as soon as she took his hand, he moved. One second, they were standing in the middle of the club, and the next, he was sitting on his ‘throne’ and she was on his lap.

She gasped as she felt the movement. Her left hand went to rest on his right shoulder as her right shoulder collided with his chest. She thought she heard him laugh.

“I’m surprised to see you here alone,” he said with a silky voice.

She looked up at him with wild eyes and saw him smirk. The voices were going away, some stayed longer and louder, others were already gone. She tried to focus and remember what he had just told her so that she could give him an answer.

“Wh- what?”

“Mr. Compton and your sister are nowhere to be found.”

“Sookie’s at work,” she replied, though she didn’t know why she’d answer any of his questions. She probably wasn’t safe here alone. Especially on his lap, not when he was looking at her like she was his dinner.

“What did you do to get your brother to leave?”

“I just asked him,” she shrugged as she looked down, hoping he’d buy her lie, then prided herself for lying. She wasn’t used to lying, it was hard to come up with lies when it was hard to think.

“I know a V addict when I see one. They can’t be persuaded away so easily. It was as if… you glamoured him,” he said, his right hand running up her bare leg slowly, sending shivers down her spine.

“I can’t glamour people, I’m not a vampire.”

“Well, you obviously did something.”

She straightened up as she put a hand over his as it reached her knee. His touch had set off an alarm inside her head. “Don’t,” she stopped him. “Please,” she continued in a trembling whisper.

“I may be a vampire,” he said, removing his hand from her knee and taking her chin in his fingers, making her look up at him, “but I’m not _that_ cruel.”

She breathed a sigh of relief then looked away once again as she felt a wave of shame take over her. His hand returned to her leg, beneath her knee. She felt his other hand move above her waist.

“Bad luck with men?”

She frowned. She didn’t have the clarity of mind to wonder why he’d ask such a thing or why he’d think she’d want to talk about it. She shook her head. “When I was younger,” she said. “A long time ago.”

“And what happened to them?”

“Him,” she corrected him, “and nothing.”

“What a shame,” he sighed, “I’d have made him pay.”

She ignored him and looked at the crowd before them, most people were looking at her. Her cheeks turned red as she saw herself in those people’s minds and tried to shut out the horrible things they were thinking. She failed. She looked away and decided to stare at his black shirt instead, focusing on the silence in his mind.

“What do you want from me?” she asked as she started to play with one of the buttons of his shirt.

He raised an eyebrow as she unbuttoned and buttoned it over and over again.

“Just a little fun… And for you to tell me how you knew about the undercover cop the other night.”

“I can’t tell you that. Sookie will be mad.”

“Sookie doesn’t have to know.”

She shook her head and let go of the button.

“Maybe I can guess,” he said. “Stop me if I’m right.”

She considered it, then nodded.

“You’re a mind reader.”

She looked up at him with big eyes, wondering how he knew. He laughed.

“Wasn’t hard to figure out.”

“Then why did you ask?”

“I wanted to see if you’d lie to me. Again.”

She frowned. She should leave now before she said too much.

“Now, tell me. How did you make your brother leave?”

She gave him a worried look, then looked around, wondering if other vampires could hear them talk.

“Don’t worry. They’re not listening. They’re too busy trying to find something to eat.”

“I shouldn’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know you.”

“I can keep a secret,” he grinned playfully. “Can’t you read my mind?”

“No,” she said which surprised him. “We can’t hear vampires’ thoughts.”

“Interesting. How frustrating it must be for you,” he smirked.

She chuckled. “Not really. I can’t control it like Sookie can. And even she can’t really control it either. I think that’s why she likes Bill so much. It must be nice to be with someone and just… enjoy the silence.”

“And are you? Enjoying the silence?” he asked, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

“It’s…” she started to say but then got distracted again. Her eyes moved up to the ceiling then slowly down at the crowd. She shivered. “What?”

“I was asking you if you were enjoying the silence. I guess not.”

“It’s complicated. But it’s easier.”

“I make it easier?”

“Yes. It’s like… instead of your thoughts invading mine, it’s just silence taking over.”

“Well I’m happy to be of service,” he joked. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

She started playing with a lock of her hair. “What question?” she asked, and he wondered if she was doing it on purpose or if she had really forgotten.

“It can’t be easy, having all of these thoughts in your head. Is that why you’re not supposed to leave your house?”

She didn’t even ask herself how he knew that. She was in a state of mind in between distracted and focused. She could hear what he was asking but wouldn’t be able to stop herself from answering any questions she shouldn’t.

“Yes, I get distracted.”

“How did you get here?”

“I took a taxi.”

“Can’t you drive?”

“I’m not allowed to drive.”

“Because you can’t focus.”

She nodded.

“How did you make your brother leave?”

“I told him to.”

“But why did he listen?”

“Because I told him to.”

“Did you glamour him?”

“No.”

“Then how did you make him do it?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I just did.”

“Do you do that often?”

“Sometimes.”

“What else can you do?”

She shrugged. She never talked about that, not even with Sookie. Her sister knew what she could do and even they didn’t talk about it.

“Can your sister glamour people too?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“We don’t know. We’re different. It’s not as loud for her.”

“What are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you human?”

“I think so.”

“Are your parents human?”

“My parents are dead.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, and she laughed. “What’s so funny?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Why are you sorry?”

“Because I lost my parents too, and I know how it feels.”

She looked up at him, finally. She hadn’t expected an honest answer. She locked her eyes with his, like she’d do if she were trying to read someone’s mind. But all she found there was his ice blue eyes and silence.

“My turn.”

“Your turn?”

“To ask questions.”

He laughed. “Okay,” he agreed, amused and curious to find out what she wanted to know.

“How old are you?”

“I’m over a thousand years old.”

“You’re a thousand years old?” she repeated in disbelief. “Have you seen the whole world?”

“Most of it,” he nodded.

“Have you met kings and queens?”

“Some. And some princesses,” he grinned smugly.

“Are you from Sweden?”

“I am.”

“Is Pam your girlfriend?”

He chuckled. “No. She’s my progeny.”

“What does that mean?”

“I made her.”

“You made her a vampire?”

“Yes.”

“How old is she?”

“I wouldn’t ask her that if I were you,” he chuckled.

“I didn’t ask her.”

He smirked, then considered answering. “She’s over a hundred and thirty years old.”

“What’s a sheriff?”

“As vampires we answer to the Authority. As sheriff my job is to make sure the vampires in my area are safe and are following the rules.”

“How long have you been a sheriff?”

“Twenty years.”

“Do you like it?”

“It has its moments.”

She was about to ask another question, but he interrupted her.

“My turn,” he said, moving his legs so that she’d slid between him and the arm of the chair. He caught her with his hand, making sure she wouldn’t fall, and leaned forward so that his face was inches from hers. She shivered as she felt his cold breath on her face. “Would you like to be mine?”

“I… I don’t know what that means.”

“It means…” he started, settling her back on his lap. “That you’d be under my protection. You’d be my human and no one else would be allowed to touch you. Or feed from you.”

“Feed? Why would I want to do that?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” he gave her an arrogant smile.

“How many humans do you have?”

“I don’t collect them,” he told her, amused by her question, “I don’t usually surround myself with humans. But you… I would like to have you.”

“Why?” she asked. She was at a complete lost as to why anyone would want to ‘have her’.

“Because I find you interesting, Miss Stackhouse. You are valuable.”

“So, you want to _own_ me?”

He breathed out a laugh. “I won’t harm you. Or do anything you don’t want me to.”

“What if I don’t want you to feed from me?”

“Then I won’t.”

She frowned. What would be the point then?

“And if I’m yours, and you don’t have anyone else, then does that make you mine?”

He laughed. “It doesn’t work that way.”

“Why not?”

“We’re vampires. We don’t belong to anyone but our makers.”

“That doesn’t seem very fair.”

“Are you negotiating with me?” he asked. He hadn’t expected her to ask so many questions.

“No. I’m just saying. Sookie is Bill’s and if Bill isn’t Sookie’s then that’s not fair.”

“You don’t understand. It’s a way to tell our kind that you are under the protection of another vampire. It’s a way to keep you safe.”

“I don’t really need protection.”

“Oh, but you do, Miss Stackhouse. Someone with your… abilities, is very valuable. Besides… you and your sister have… very distinct smells.”

She frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means you stand out, and not in a safe way. You smell better than most humans. In truth, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who smelled as good as you.”

She looked at him, really looked at him, trying to see if he was trying to trick her, if he was lying, if he had some bad intentions. But the silence she found in his head didn’t help answer her questions.

“**Vill du ha ett nytt husdjur till din djurpark? **_(Do you want another pet for your zoo?)_

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t call you a pet, exactly.”

She considered it. She didn’t want to say yes, but she didn’t want to say no either.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Please do.”

“I should go now.” She was tired. The noise was exhausting her. Even now that she was on his lap, touching him, the voices wouldn’t go away.

“Leaving so soon?” he said, as if he were disappointed, but didn’t try to stop her.

“If I’m not home when Sookie comes back from work, she’ll be worried,” she told him as she got up. As soon as she was away from him, the voices became louder. She tried to focus and keep them away long enough for her to make it to the door. She wondered if she’d make it.

“I look forward to seeing you again,” Eric said with what could have been a threatening tone, and she didn’t want to tell him that she did too.

She gave him an awkward and shy smile before she turned around. She tried to ignore the feeling of his eyes on her as he watched her walk away. She had to concentrate. She made her way to the crowd, trying not to lose focus. But she had barely made it into the pool of people that she had already forgotten about Eric and lost her way. She kept walking, though not really knowing where she was going. A shirtless woman appeared before her, dark tape covering her breasts. She had short black hair, it looked like a wig, and she was wearing a very short black skirt and very high black heels.

“Hi honey,” she said but Brooke didn’t hear her. “Can I buy you a drink?”

Brooklynne was confused. A voice in her head was crying, another was shouting, someone was very angry and sad, or maybe it was two people and one was angry and the other was sad. She couldn’t tell. Someone wanted V, someone else wanted another drink. Most people were looking for someone to have sex with in the bathroom. Some of them were even looking for vampires to feed from them. She turned around, away from the woman whose presence she hadn’t acknowledged, and stepped away. She brought a hand to her head. She didn’t know where she was. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do.

She barely felt the cold hand that came to rest on her shoulder and didn’t resist when the person dragged her away. She walked through the crowd and exited the club, shivering as the cold night came in contact with her body.

“Brooklynne?” a voice called. “Brooklynne.”

Someone snapped their fingers and startled her, bringing her back to reality. Eric was standing in front of her, waiting for her to reply.

“What? What?” she asked as she looked around. She recognized the parking lot of the club. She was out, the voices were less loud, but they were still there.

“Didn’t you say you didn’t need protection? I could have been anyone. A vampire dragging you out to drain your blood and leave you for dead in the alley.”

_“I’d do her. I’d do her good. Teach that fangbanger what a real man feels like, and she’d never go back to those bloodsuckers.”_

She ignored Eric and stared at the man smoking a few feet away from them. He was wearing a pair of old, used and dirty jeans with holes in them. Muddy shoes, a khaki shirt and a black leather jacket. He looked old though he couldn’t have been older than 35. His hair was brown, though clean and with a little light they’d probably be blond. He was staring at her. She was staring back.

“What is he thinking?” Eric asked.

She looked up at the vampire, finally acknowledging his presence.

“What did you say?”

“I asked what he was thinking.”

“No, before that.”

“I said you need protection. You couldn’t even leave the club without getting lost.”

“I’m not supposed to be here,” she said. She sounded tired.

“Clearly.”

“I’m not supposed to leave the house alone.”

“Are you sure you want that retard to be yours?”

“Pam,” Eric growled. “Cover for me.”

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure she gets home safely.”

“Why? Just lock her up and make her yours if that’s what you really want.”

“She’s the sister of Bill Compton’s human. I can’t imagine that going well.”

“Since when do you care about Bill Compton?”

“Since I don’t want him to become a pain in my ass. Just do as I say.”

Pam rolled her eyes but eventually turned around and entered the club.

“Nothing nice,” Brooklynne suddenly said.

“What?”

“You asked what he was thinking. It was nothing nice.”

***

When she woke up the next day, it was already late in the morning. She was asleep when Sookie had come back from work and unless Jason told her, she’d never know of her little adventure in Fangtasia.

A week had passed, and she hadn’t heard back from Jason. She wondered if he was still doing V. He hadn’t come back to steal more silverware, so maybe that was a good sign.

Sookie was never home at night, always spending it with Bill, leaving Brooklynne alone. She preferred it and wouldn’t complain. She didn’t have to focus to keep anyone’s thoughts away.

She had spent the whole week wondering if Eric had meant it when he had asked her to be his, and if she wanted to say yes. Of course, she wasn’t going to ask Sookie for advice. She figured she didn’t need protection as she never left her house. Going to the club alone had been a terrible decision, though it had probably saved her brother from some serious trouble. However, she should have been smarter. She should have asked him to bring her home.

Brooklynne was lying on the grass, admiring the sunset sky. Though, now it was completely dark. She had lost herself, once again, in another world. She was whispering song lyrics at the stars, trying to shut out her sister’s thoughts. Sookie was in the kitchen, waiting for Bill. She heard someone approach and thought the vampire had finally arrived, but he didn’t greet her like he usually did. For the past five days he had called her name, asked her if she was okay, asked her what the stars were saying, before wishing her a good night, and joining Sookie inside the house. But this time, the man approached silently and stopped near her, looking down at her curiously. He was taller than Bill and hadn’t come for Sookie. No. This vampire had come for her.

“Well, hello there.”

She grinned at him. “Hi.”

“You’re in a good mood today,” he said as he crouched down.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to ask for your help.”

She raised her eyebrows as she propped herself up on her elbows. “_My_ help?”

“Yes. I’m in need of a telepath.”

“Eric!”

Brooke turned around as she heard Bill from behind her. Eric stood up as the vampire approached quite angrily.

“Bill,” the Viking greeted with a sigh. “I should’ve known you’d be around.”

“What are you doing here? Leave her alone!”

Eric chuckled. “Maybe she doesn’t want me to leave her alone.”

“What’s going on?” Sookie asked as she joined them. She was wearing a white sleeveless dress and white ballerinas, an outfit similar to her sister’s. “What are _you_ doing here?”

“He needs help with something,” Brooke said as she got up.

“And what makes you think you’ll find help here?” Bill asked.

“I didn’t ask you for help, did I? I asked her.”

“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Sookie told Eric.

“That’s not for you to decide,” the vampire replied as he turned to look at Brooke.

“What do you need help with?” the young telepath asked.

“Business. I just want to make sure my employees are honest with me.”

“She doesn’t work for you,” Sookie said.

“She could.”

“No, she can’t.”

“Again, that’s not for you to decide.”

They all turned to look at Brooke, waiting for an answer. Of course, Sookie wanted her to refuse, but she wouldn’t mind helping the vampire out. After all, she hadn’t left the house in a week, and she could use a little action.

“Okay,” she shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

“Then I’m coming with you,” Sookie said.

“Fine,” Eric agreed. “If you insist.”

***

Fangtasia was exceptionally closed for the night. Inside were only Longshadow, Pam, and two humans. Eric, Brooklynne, Sookie and Bill joined them near the bar. It was odd to see the club empty. Especially for Brooklynne, whose only memories of this place was as a loud box from Hell. Eric invited Sookie and Brooke to sit at a table where one of the two humans were already sitting, waiting impatiently and nervously, while the vampires leaned back against the bar.

“Pam, Longshadow and I are partners in this club,” Eric started to explain. “And we recently noticed that $60,000 has gone missing from our books. And Bruce,” he said as he placed a hand on the human’s shoulder, which made him wince, he was perspiring profusely in his white shirt, and his breathing was unsteady, “Bruce is our accountant. Perhaps you can start by listening to him.”

Brooklynne hadn’t waited for him to say so to start listening to him. In fact, she couldn’t help it. He was practically screaming his fear at her. She already knew he hadn’t done it, nor who had. So, she said so. “He didn’t do it.”

“Well, that was fast,” Pam said with her usual annoyed tone.

“Are you sure?” Eric asked.

“Yes,” she said as she put her elbows on the table and rested her head between her hands, like a child would do.

“Alright then.”

“You trust the skinny human to clear the fat one?” Longshadow asked from behind the bar.

Eric ignored his bartender. “Bring the next one in,” he told Pam.

Bruce took a deep breath, relieved, as if he had just avoided death, and both Sookie and Brooklynne knew he probably had.

“We find who did it, what are you going to do with them?” Sookie asked.

“We’ll report them to the police and let the authorities take it from there,” Longshadow said which made Sookie scoff.

“Hundreds of years old and you’re still a terrible liar.”

“Sookie!” Brooke reprimanded her sister.

“What? You know as well as I do that they’re going to kill whoever’s stealing from them!”

“We don’t know that,” she said. But it was a good point, she had to admit.

“Promise you’ll report them to the police, and we’ll help you,” Sookie told Eric.

“As far as I’m concerned, I don’t need _your_ help. Just your sister’s.”

“Brooke?” Sookie turned to her sister who was confused as to what she was supposed to do.

“Fine,” Eric asked. “I promise I’ll call the police,” he said with a fake smile. “Happy?”

“Yes, very,” the blonde nodded.

Bruce left to give his place to a very skinny blonde woman who was barely wearing any clothes. She was wearing a black leather bra top and very short jean shorts.

“Ginger, these women have some questions for you,” Eric told her. “Be a good girl and answer them, will you.”

“Aye, aye, master,” she smiled.

“Ginger, someone’s been stealing money from the bar,” Sookie asked.

“Really? Uh.”

“_Don’t look at me you fucking bitch. I didn’t do nothing. I’ll beat the shit out of you if you say I did. It wasn’t me that took it. It wasn’t me.”_

“She didn’t do it,” Sookie said.

“But she knows who did,” Brooke finished.

“What? Fuck you.”

_“Shit. How’d she know? I didn’t tell anyone, I swear. Fuck, he’s gonna kill me.”_

“She’s scared.”

“Who?” Sookie asked. “Who’s gonna kill you?”

“There are holes in her mind.”

“She’s been glamoured,” Pam said.

“It’s a vampire,” Sookie guessed.

Suddenly, Ginger jumped on her chair and looked with fear at someone behind the two telepaths. Sookie jumped on her feet and turned around, fast enough to see Longshadow jump from the bar. She pushed Brooklynne away and her younger sister fell on the floor. The vampire jumped on Sookie, pushed her against the table, his hands tightening on her neck.

“Sookie!” Brooke called.

But Longshadow barely got the time to do any damage as Bill broke a chair and used one of the feet as a stake on Longshadow.

Ginger started shrieking. It was a horribly loud and unbearable sound. Longshadow started vomiting blood all over Sookie before he exploded and turned into a pool of blood. Ginger’s screams were now accompanied by Brooke’s.

“Humans,” Eric sighed. “Honestly, Bill, I don’t know what you see in them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapters will be posted every Monday!
> 
> You can find chapter 3 to 8 on my Patreon page: patreon.com/alonelydreamer for early and instant access!
> 
> Any support is immensely appreciated but if you can't that's alright! Chapter 3 will be posted on Monday 9!
> 
> Have a good week!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little short so I'll be posting chapter 4 today too :)

Brooke stared at the blood on the floor right in front of her. She slowly moved her eyes up to her sister who was covered in blood. Sookie looked as bad as she felt. Both sisters were trembling, deeply disturbed by what they had just witnessed. The blood at her feet reminded Brooke of the night she had come home to find her grandmother lying dead on the floor of the kitchen in a pool of her own blood. Ginger only stopped screaming when she started vomiting all over the floor. Great. Just more for her to clean up.

“Come,” Pam said without any trace of sympathy in her voice, as she gestured for Sookie and Brooke to follow her.

Sookie moved first. She slid off the table where Longshadow had tried to kill her and turned towards her little sister who was still sitting on the floor.

“Come on,” she told her. She wanted to hold a hand out to her but she was covered in dead vampire blood.

Brooklynne slowly rose to her feet and followed Pam and her sister to the bathroom, leaving Eric and Bill with a sick Ginger. The youngest Stackhouse sat on the couch at the entrance of the restroom and let her sister take the direction of the sink. She took one quick look at herself in the mirror, then opened the tap and started cleaning her face. It was hard to wash blood away. It took her half an hour to completely clean her face and remove the blood out of her hair. Though, only a proper shower and shampoo would completely remove the red out of her blond head.

Brooklynne left the room, though not physically. She travelled back and forth between her sister’s mind and Ginger’s. Ginger’s head was a terrible place to be in. She was scared and panicked and could barely remember her own name because of all the time she had been glamoured. Poor Ginger had to clean up what was left of Longshadow, and of her dinner.

Pam eventually joined them in the bathroom, after Sookie had cleaned her face and cleavage entirely. She had a black leather dress in her hand which she handed out to Sookie.

“Put this on.”

Sookie took one look at the material of the dress and knew she’d rather stay in her bloody dress than to change into it. “Oh… thanks but… I’m just gonna dry out my hair and be on my way.”

Pam shook her head slightly. “You’re not going anywhere. Eric and your boyfriend aren’t nearly done talking just yet.”

“Is… Bill in some kind of trouble?”

“That’s for the boys to figure out. Right now, what you need to do is change out of your clothes. There’s vampire in your cleavage.”

Sookie looked down and gasped as she saw a piece of skin between her breasts. “Okay, ew.”

“Allow me,” Pam smirked as she took a step forward before she brought a hand to Sookie’s cleavage and took out what was left of Longshadow.

“Thank you,” Sookie said quietly, unable to look away from the vampire.

“I’m beginning to understand why Bill likes you so much,” she smiled playfully as a way to flirt, perhaps enjoying making the human uncomfortable.

Ginger interrupted them as she entered the room. “Oh, hey there, Pam,” she said. “Oh, who’s your new friend?”

“Ginger, Sookie, Sookie, Ginger. And Brooklynne,” she said, pointing at the youngest telepath that was still sitting on the couch behind her.

“Nice to meet you,” Ginger grinned.

“Right,” Sookie nodded as she understood that Ginger had been glamoured. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Oh, you don’t have to be so scared,” Ginger said. “They’re really very nice here,” she told her before she exited the room.

“I’ll get you something else to wear,” the vampire said before she left too.

Once they were alone, Sookie made her way to her sister, and sat behind her.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Why did Eric come to you for help?”

“I don’t know,” she lied.

“I think he didn’t want to ask me because I’m Bill’s. So he asked you knowing no one could stop him if he really wanted to use you.”

“I didn’t mind helping him.”

“And looked what happened. It’s not safe to be around vampires.”

Brooklynne raised an eyebrow. “You’re not really in a position to say such a thing, Sook.”

“Bill is different.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means what it means, Sook.”

“Did Eric contact you after we came here the other day?”

“No,” she said, which wasn’t a lie considering she had been the one to come here.

“Well I’d appreciate if you stayed away from him.”

“And I’d appreciate if you didn’t tell me what to do.”

***

The sun was an hour away when Eric released them. He hadn’t said a word to Brooklynne and hadn’t even been around when they left. Sookie was worried for Bill. He had killed another vampire after all, in front of his sheriff. There would be consequences and she wanted to know them. She knew that Bill was lying when he told her everything was going to be okay. They dropped Brooklynne at the house before they drove to Bill’s for some alone time together. She was happy to be home, but, for once, she wasn’t happy to be alone.

Her sleep was interrupted by nightmares and she felt tired the entire following day. Sookie had only come home to get ready for work and had come back after her shift pretty upset. Brooke was in the living room, reading another of her grandmother’s novels, when her sister came back from work.

“What happened?”

“Bill stopped by. He left with Eric and Pam to a tribunal,” she explained as she sat down next to her. A dog was following her, and he sat down at her feet.

“A tribunal?”

“Yes. He’s going to be judged for killing Longshadow.”

“But… he was defending you. Is he in big trouble?”

“He said he was. He said he didn’t know if he was coming back…” she sniffed, then tried to blink the tears away.

“Oh, Sook.” Brooke wished she knew what to say, but she was terrible at reassuring people. She could say ‘I’m sure he’ll be fine’ but she didn’t know it to be true and she didn’t want to give her false hope. But what else could she say?

“I’m going to bed,” Sookie said as she got up. “All this vampire business is exhausting.”

“Me too, I’m tired.”

She followed Sookie who was followed by the dog. She frowned. There was something abnormal with that dog. But something oddly familiar. She let it go as she entered her bedroom and closed the door behind her.

She was woken up in the middle of the night by loud screams coming from her sister’s bedroom. There was someone else there, someone who sounded familiar. She rushed to Sookie’s room and found her standing near the window, branding her hairbrush as a weapon. Sam Merlotte was standing a few feet from her, and completely naked.

“Sam?”

“Brooke, hey. It’s not what you think.”

“You were the dog!” she said as she now realized why the animal had looked familiar.

“It… is exactly what you think…” he said, wondering how she knew.

“Wait you knew?” Sookie asked. “You knew he’s a shape-shifter?”

“Yeah,” she shrugged, like it wasn’t a big deal, as she rubbed her eyes.

“How?” Sam questioned. “I never told you.”

“I heard you once. You saw a dog at the restaurant and thought you’d like to change into it later that night.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I don’t know. I figured you wanted to keep it private.”

“Well… that was very respectful of you,” he said, still completely baffled. Though, he supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. Brooklynne had always been very different.

“Can you uh… keep it down? I’m really tired.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Sorry I woke you,” Sookie said.

Brooklynne said goodbye before she went back to bed, completely uncurious about Sam, maybe because she already knew what she needed to know. He was a shapeshifter, what else was there to say?

***

Sookie had kicked Sam out during the night, apparently angry that he hadn’t told her his biggest secret. Brooklynne couldn’t understand why, though she guessed it had something to do with pride.

“Did you know werewolves are real?” Sookie asked as she was venting at her sister during breakfast.

No, Brooklynne didn’t know that, but Sookie didn’t give her time to answer as she kept blabbering.

“I mean… you think you know someone,” she finally said with a sigh as she let herself fall on a chair. “And now I’m gonna be late,” she said as she looked at her watch.

“Could you tell Arlene…”

“Thanks for the invite, sorry you couldn’t come, yes I will,” she said before she left the house.

Arlene’s engagement party was today, and Sam had agreed to host it at the bar. Sookie and other friends of Arlene’s were expected to get the restaurant ready for tonight. Brooklynne was always invited to parties like this one, but she never went. She figured it was out of politeness that they kept inviting her and she hoped they didn’t think that it was out of rudeness that she never went.

Brooklynne was already sleeping when Sookie came back home later that night. But she wasn’t alone. At first, she thought she had invited Sam to apologize for kicking him out the previous night, but then she realized as she listened that Sookie had been attacked at the party. She walked down the stairs in her pajamas and joined them in the living room where Sookie was getting the couch ready for him.

“What happened?”

Sookie’s first instincts were to lie but she thought better of it when she remembered her sister couldn’t be lied to.

“Someone tried to kill me at the party,” she said as she sat down on the couch next to the shapeshifter. “But I’m fine. Thanks to Sam.”

“The same person who killed Gran?”

“I think so.”

“Did you call Jason?”

“He’s not answering.”

Brooklynne sighed. She was worried for her big brother, but right now, she was more worried for her sister who had just almost died.

“Go back to bed, Brooke. We’ll talk about it in the morning.”

“And don’t be worried,” Sam told them. “No one’s entering this house as long as I’m here.”

***

The following morning, Brooklynne joined Sookie and Sam in the kitchen. Her sister had barely slept. Sam was eating the eggs she had made for him while she had her nose inside the yellow pages.

“I’ll tell you what,” she said as her sister sat down with them, “I am sick and tired of waiting around to get strangled.”

“Well, it’s not gonna happen while I’m here,” Sam told her.

“You can’t spend twenty-four hours a day with me for the rest of my life,” she chuckled.

“Sure I can,” he said, and he was only half joking.

“I wanna find that guy before he finds me again.”

“So, you’re looking up killers in the yellow pages?” he asked, making Brooklynne laugh.

“Ha-ha, no,” Sookie rolled her eyes. “I remembered. In my sleep, I remembered. The girl I saw in the killer’s mind, her clothes, the apron, it was a uniform. She was a waitress and there was a tag. Her name was Cindy. And the restaurant’s name was something about pies. Party pies or Patty Pies.”

“Wait, you mean Big Patty’s Pie House?” Sam asked.

“Yes!”

“Well, yeah, I know Big Patty’s. It’s off I-49, a ways south, near Bunkie.”

Sookie nodded enthusiastically. “Great! You… you don’t have to come with me,” she chuckled. “Brooke and I can go ourselves.”

Brooklynne raised an eyebrow, unaware she’d have to go anywhere, but ultimately wouldn’t complain about it. She rarely got to leave the house.

“Yeah, I do,” he said. “Come on, eat up, you need your fuel.”

***

“No, ma’am, no, sir. I don’t know any Cindy,” the waitress from the pie restaurant told them. “But I can recommend the fried apple pie, the frozen Hawaiian pie…” she proceeded to tell them all the pies on the menu. Brooklynne was already having a headache just by listening to her talk.

“They’ll have the peanut butter pie and the Spunky Hollow honey pineapple pie. Please, Harley,” an old black man said from where he was sitting at the counter.

“Gotcha, Buster,” she said before she went to the kitchen.

“We will?” Sam asked the old man.

“You won’t get nothing from her,” he explained. “She’s only been here two weeks. Comes from three generations of dumb as rocks,” he chuckled. “Hell, they named her after a motorcycle. If you wanna know anything about Cindy Marshall, I’ll talk to you. And I’ll eat that pie too,” he winked at them. “Buster Boisseau,” he introduced himself as they sat beside him.

“Sookie and Brooklynne Stackhouse, Sam Merlotte,” she introduced them. “You knew Cindy?”

“Mmh,” he nodded. “A little bit. Let’s see. I met her two years ago. She moved into town with her brother, a couple of months before…” he paused.

“Before what?” Sam asked.

“Well, I hate to be the one to tell you, but somebody murdered that little gal. Just choked the life right out of her.”

“Poor thing,” Sookie said. “Did they find out who did it?”

“Nope. It’s a mystery.”

“Where’s her brother? Could we talk to him?”

“Don’t know how. He was gone by the time they found her body. The police thought maybe he’s dead too, or maybe he killed her. But there wasn’t no evidence one way or the other.”

“What was his name?” Sam asked.

“Let me think on that… Nobody hardly knew him. Let’s see. D something. Dave? Drew? No, Drew. Drew Marshall.”

“What was Cindy like?” Sookie asked.

“Oh, cute as a button, a little wild, fun-loving, always nice to me,” he said with a smile as he remembered her fondly, “but people talked, you know.”

“Talked about what?”

“Vampers. They say she was carrying on with the vampers. I didn’t believe her. I mean, what kind of a woman would do such a thing?”

Sam immediately put a hand on Sookie’s shoulder as if she’d hurt the old man, and from what Brooke could hear, her sister was trying very hard to stay polite. “Well, thank you for your time,” he said.

“Hey, Harley, this isn’t what I ordered,” the man called the waitress as he got up to bring his pie back.

“Well, at least we have a name,” Sookie said. “What now?”

“We go to the police station. Ask them a picture of Drew Marshall.”

“They won’t give it to use.”

“I wouldn’t worry,” Brooke said. “They’ll give it to us.”

***

There was no one at the reception inside the small station. And from what Brooke could tell, there was no one, period. Beside one officer who was too busy planning on cheating on his wife than to do his actual job.

_“Can’t call it adultery if a wife won’t have sex. At least Debbie’s a Christian.”_

“Hello?” Sam called for the second time.

“Yeah?” the officer finally replied, making his way to them.

“Hello, officer,” Sookie smiled at him. “Sir, I’m sorry to bother you,” she said as she put her hair up in a ponytail.

“Are those vampire bites?” he asked as he saw the marks on her arm.

“Uh,” Sam said. “With all due respect, sir, that’s none of your business.”

“Sir, we’re looking for information…”

“Well, that’s what the library’s for,” he cut her off.

“Wait a minute. She hasn’t even asked you nothing yet! It’s about Cindy Marshall’s murder.”

“What about it?”

“Well, there have been murders like hers in Renard Parish. Bon Temps, to be exact. Hadn’t you heard?”

“Can’t say.”

“She had a brother. Drew, I was told.”

“Could be,” the officer shrugged.

“Do you have a picture of him?”

“What for? We don’t know he did it. More likely a vampire.”

“I don’t mean to tell you your business, but a vampire wouldn’t kill by strangulation.”

“Well, I guess you’d know. Good riddance to white trash is all I got to say.”

“Buddy, you’re out of line,” Sam started to lose his patience.

“He can say whatever he wants. It doesn’t bother me a bit.”

“Alright, okay,” Brooklynne sighed, tired of listening to his nasty thoughts about her sister. She stepped between Sookie and Sam and leaned over the counter. “Hi,” she smiled at the officer. “You really like vampires, and you’re a huge supporter of theirs. In fact, you want them to have the exact same rights as you do. And now, you really want to help us.”

“Brooke, what are you doing?” Sam asked.

Sookie shushed him.

“Of course,” the officer smiled back at them. “Of course, how can I help you?”

“We need a picture of Drew Marshall. It would really help us,” Sookie answered.

“Oh, I’m afraid that file is in storage. It’s gonna take a while to get it. And, there are protocols. I can’t just give it to you. What I might do is fax it on down to the sheriff in Bon Temps.”

“Great,” Sookie smiled. “That’s all we ask. Thank you so much for your cooperation.”

Brooklynne turned toward the shapeshifter, knowing he was wondering how she did that, wondering if she had ever done that to him.

“See? I told you he’d give it to us.”

***

The night had fallen while they were on their way back to Bon Temps. Brooklynne was exhausted, she wasn’t used to being outside. She was half asleep in the back seats of Sam’s truck when he parked in the driveway. Sookie wanted to wake her up but Sam stopped her. He scooped her up into his arms and brought her to her bedroom where he laid her down on her bed.

She woke up an hour later, however, when Bill burst into the house. She heard in her sister and Sam’s minds that the two men got into a fight over Sookie after the vampire caught the shapeshifter kissing his girlfriend.

“Get out!” she heard her sister shout. “I rescind your invitation.”

Bill begged her to reconsider but she slammed the door in his face. She then argued with Sam, whom, for some reason Brooke knew but would never understand, chose to stay, and sleep on their couch, to protect the girl he knew deep down would never love him back.


	4. Chapter 4

Sookie didn’t have to tell Brooke that Jason was in jail. She had heard it as soon as Sookie had. Jason had called from the police station to let her know. It put her in a rage. Jason had confessed to crimes he hadn’t committed because of guilt and grief. Because his girlfriend who was a V addict had died and he had no better explanation for it. “What an idiot,” Sookie had said, right before she left the house. She drove to the police station where René, Arlene’s future husband, was already visiting Jason. She told her brother not to worry, that she was really close to finding out who the real killer was, but he didn’t want to believe it. In his mind, it was set, he was the killer. He had killed them all, somehow, even if he didn’t remember it. All but Adele. He knew he hadn’t done it, he knew he couldn’t have.

Brooklynne didn’t want to stay inside, she wanted to be out there, looking for Drew Marshall with Sookie. But even Sookie couldn’t do that. She had to work. She’d go out there on her own but the last time she did that, she had needed Eric to bring her back home.

Being alone in the house made her feel uneasy. That unfamiliar feeling helped her focus. It was like she was in someone else’s house, a house she didn’t know, and the unknown made her feel anxious. Her routine had crumbled when Adele died. No more exercises, no more games to help her control her abilities. But she had no one to talk to now. Or someone to talk to her. She felt lonely, and somehow that helped her focus. Because, for the first time in a really long time, she was bored.

Maybe it was because there was no one around, no one to listen to, no one to hear, but she felt different from her usual self. She could hear herself think, and maybe that was why it was easier to focus. She thought about Adele, she thought about Jason, she thought about Eric. But the one thing she wished she would stop thinking about, dreaming about, was blood. She saw blood every time she closed her eyes. Her grandmother’s blood all over the kitchen floor. Longshadow’s blood all over Sookie. How the vampire had exploded into a disgusting pool of red liquid. It made her sick.

She decided to keep herself busy. To try and see how long she could stay focus and do normal things without accidentally mentally slipping into another world. She remembered Sookie saying they’d have to wrap up their grandmother’s things at some point, and Brooklynne thought she’d make herself useful by starting to clean Adele’s bedroom. The boxes were already there and marked ‘to keep’ and ‘goodwill’. She started going through her grandmother’s jewelry, giving a look at the old wooden clock on the wall wondering how long it’ll take her to get distracted. But she never did. She worked for two hours in silence and was only interrupted by the ringtone of her phone. She saw a text message from Sookie, letting her know that her car broke down and that René was driving her home.

Brooklynne had never met René, but she had heard of him. He was a colleague but also a good friend of Jason’s. He had probably been at Adele’s funeral, but she had left too early to get the chance to meet him.

She was happy to have some company. She wanted to try and see if she could stay out of their heads. Or, at least, if she could stop their thoughts from invading hers.

She had just finished sorting out her grandmother’s clothes, when she heard a car stop in the driveway. She heard Sookie and René enter the house as she started walking down the stairs.

“It’s hotter in here than hell on a Sunday,” she heard René say.

“Yeah, Gran used to leave the windows open all day but… I haven’t felt safe doing that in a while… Especially with Brooke staying here alone. Have a seat, I’ll fix us some iced teas.”

“Sounds good.”

Brooklynne watched from the bottom of the stairs as he turned on the ceiling fan, before he stepped inside the living room. She didn’t even get the chance to try and block his thoughts as she saw him look around and the first thing he noticed was the shotgun leaning against the fireplace. Brooklynne heard him plan to remove the bullets from it. She heard him plan to take Sookie by surprise and strangle her with his belt like he had Maudette, Dawn and Amy, the girl from Fangtasia, the girl Jason had loved, the girl he had confessed crimes he hadn’t committed for. She took a deep breath. She should be afraid. The thought crossed her mind. Why wasn’t she afraid? But it seemed like she was on autopilot at the moment as she calmly walked down the rest of the stairs, knowing she was going to face him, her grandmother’s killer, the man who had been terrorizing the town and her sister for weeks. She took him by surprise, appearing in the doorway as he was placing the shotgun back where he had found it.

“Got ya,” Brooke said with no special emotion in her voice or on her face.

“Oh,” he chuckled after he turned around and saw her standing there. “I was just looking at it.”

She tilted her head, wondering if no one had told him about her, about how she knew everything. She knew he must have. It was probably the reason why he had avoided her. But there was something he didn’t know about her, something he wasn’t ready for.

“You killed my grandmother,” she told him, calm and composed.

The look on his face didn’t change. He was still wearing that stupid smirk even though he knew he was made. Even as he made the decision to kill her too.

“Don’t,” she said as he tried to take a step forward. Of course, he obeyed, he didn’t really have a choice.

“Brooke?” Sookie asked as she appeared from behind her with a jug of iced tea in her hands. “What’s going on?”

She didn’t get the time to reply as René launched himself at them. Brooke’s command had been for him not to step forward, so he had to find another way to move.

“It’s him! He’s Drew Marshall!”

Sookie would have guessed and she would have given a sassy reply to her sister if it hadn’t been for René jumping on her, making her fall hard on her back. He moved his hands to her throat and started strangling her.

“Stop!” Brooke ordered him.

“_You_ stop,” he growled, tired of being manipulated. He got up and slapped Brooke so hard she fell over.

“Don’t touch her!” Sookie snarled as she jumped on his back and started punching his shoulders and his chest.

He shook her off and she fell on her ass. He then proceeded to kick her once, then twice, giving Brooke enough time to recollect herself. She knew she had to choose her words carefully to stop him.

“Stop it! Don’t do anything! Don’t move!”

He stopped. Sookie took a deep breath, bringing a hand to her stomach and another to her bruised face, before she pushed herself away from him.

“You’re never going to kill anyone again,” Brooklynne said. “You’re going to surrender to the police and confess everything.”

“Fuck you!”

“You killed Gran!” Sookie yelled at him. “Fuck _you_! She didn’t do anything to you!”

“I came for you, you stupid cunt!”

“Shut up,” Brooke ordered him. “Don’t say another word until the police arrives. Don’t do anything until the police gets here, don’t move.”

“_How do you do that?”_ he asked silently but she didn’t reply.

“Are you okay?” Sookie asked her sister as she brought a hand to her sore face.

“I’m fine,” she nodded.

Catching him might not bring her grandmother back, but at least it would bring justice to his victims, and it would clear Jason’s name.

“Poor Arlene,” Sookie shook her head. “She’ll be heartbroken.”

“Sookie!” someone called from outside. Sam appeared in the doorway. He was out of breath, as if he had run all the way here. “It’s him,” he said as soon as he saw René standing in the living room. “It’s him, he’s the killer,” he made his way towards who he had thought was his friend and seized him by the shirt.

“We know,” Sookie told him.

“He’s stopped. He won’t move or say a word until the police gets here.”

“You bastard,” Sam growled before he punched him in the face so hard he knocked him out.

“Well,” Sookie sighed. “At least that would be easier to explain to the police.”

***

A coward. Of course, he was. Changing his name, killing women… only a coward could do such things. Just like only a coward would use his belt to hang himself in his cell. Brooke couldn’t say she was sad to see him go, in fact, she’d be lying if she did. Sookie wasn’t particularly hurt by the news either and life started to feel normal again as the days went by. It was as if his death had made Adele’s more real somehow. More definite. As if she hadn’t really been gone until her murderer had been caught. Or maybe, her granddaughters just weren’t good at letting go. And who would be? Especially Brooklynne, as she now spent her days alone, reading her grandmother’s books, playing cards by herself… She had no one to talk to, not even Jason who had disappeared as fast as he had come back.

After they arrested René, they had released Jason, who had been over the moon to hear that he wasn’t a bloodthirsty murderer. Neither Sookie nor Brooklynne knew where he had run to, or where and how he spent his free time. But at least he showed up on time to work, and he was clean, according to Hoyt Fortenberry.

Bill had showed up to the house as soon as the sun had set on the night when they caught Drew Marshall/René. He had felt her fear and had tried to intervene, but the sun had stopped him from going far. Sookie forgave him, of course she did, she could barely remember why she was mad at him in the first place. Brooklynne remembered, but she wasn’t about to remind her sister. Not when she was literally glowing with happiness.

The glow of happiness didn’t last long, however, as Sookie came back home one night, after finding a dead body in Andy Bellefleur’s car. It looked like Bon Temps had gotten itself another murdered. And another vampire.

It turned out, as punishment for killing a vampire, Bill had had to create a new one, and her name was Jessica, and Bill had kept her a secret for two weeks, which Sookie didn’t appreciate. She didn’t appreciate it at all.

One afternoon, a few days after René’s arrest and death, Sookie and Brooke were finishing up on cleaning Adele’s bedroom, when a notary came knocking on their door. Having company was a good exercise for Brooke, especially when it was only one person. She could try and focus on staying out of their mind and staying inside of hers.

“Is there a problem with my grandmother’s papers, Mr. Lancaster?” Sookie asked as they settled in the living room. “I know you asked for a copy of the deed to the house.”

“Oh, no, no, that’s all okay,” he said, then paused, then sighed, “I have some terrible news, I’m afraid. Your great-uncle Bartlett has passed on.”

A chuckled escaped Brooke’s lips. The notary gave her a weird look, which she ignored.

“Excuse her, she has ADD,” Sookie explained.

“Ah,” he nodded, he obviously didn’t know what it meant. “I know it’s so soon after your grandmother. This must be quite a shock.”

Brooklynne laughed again. Of course, she wouldn’t be sad about it, but her reaction was the exact opposite of Sookie’s who was stunned by the ‘tragic’ news.

“Tell me what happened,” she asked, ignoring her sister who was trying to stop smiling.

The notary stared at the youngest Stackhouse for a moment before he returned his attention to Sookie. “Well… the Lincoln Parish Fire Department found him a few miles south of Simsboro. He’d washed up on the shore.”

“How’d he get all the way down there?”

“The Walnut Creek runs behind his house. Sheriff’s guessing he got too close and fell in.”

Brooklynne burst out in laughter. She first thought she’d thank karma for it but then heard from her sister that Bill was potentially responsible, which instantly made her like him more.

“Brooklynne!” Sookie reprimanded.

Knowing she wouldn’t stop laughing, she left the room and walked back up to her bedroom. She wasn’t happy by the news, though she wasn’t unhappy either. It was a mix of surprise, exhaustion and nervousness that had set off this reaction from her. She knew her grandmother would be deeply ashamed of her, but she’d be really proud to hear that she had managed to keep away from Mr. Lancaster’s mind.

***

$12,000. Maybe that’s how much Sookie and Brooklynne’s innocence and dignity was worth to their great-uncle Bartlett, or maybe that was really all he had left, but either way, the sisters didn’t want it. They didn’t want anything from him. Sookie had given it all to Jason, and Brooklynne hoped he’d be smart with it.

A week passed, during which Sookie and Bill kissed and makeup. Sookie was motivated to get to know Jessica better as she was Bill’s progeny, and therefore, they were a package deal. It was both of them or none of them. So, she had taken the night off and asked Bill to leave them both alone so they could have some alone time together, something the vampire had reluctantly agreed to.

Brooklynne wished her sister would spend some alone time with her, but she was getting used to being alone. She had begged Sookie a few times to take her with her to work so that she could try and control her powers, but her sister always refused. And she wasn’t about to say yes now that she had found a dead body in the parking lot of the restaurant.

Resigned to spend the rest of her life alone and doing nothing, Brooklynne had collapsed on the couch with a sigh. Bored out of her mind, she started to wish something, anything, would distract her. At some point in the evening, her wish had come true as she ended up walking around barefoot on the wet cold grass.

The pond was surprisingly bright considering it was nighttime. As usual, nobody could see her, but she could see them all. They were all very happy, almost glowing, as they drank and laughed and danced. She started dancing with them, enjoying the music, enjoying the silence inside her head. Maybe it was because she wasn’t physically there, but she couldn’t hear any of their thoughts. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she enjoyed the fresh air on her skin, and the happiness around her. But suddenly, the laughed were replaced by cries and gasps and the dancers quickly scattered away in fear as the lights faded away and darkness took over the pond. Brooklynne looked around, confused, trying to find what they were running away from. But she only met silence, and darkness.

A knock on the door brought her back to her living room. She stood up slowly, as if she had just woken up, wondering if she had imagined it. But she heard it again. She knew it was a vampire, because she couldn’t hear their thoughts. She stood up and walked barefoot to the front door. She immediately recognized the tall figure standing behind it. She opened the door and saw Eric standing on her porch. He was wearing blue joggers and a matching jacket, and his hair was shorter than the last time she saw him.

“Brooklynne,” he smirked, as if he thought she’d be happy to see him.

“Eric.”

“Did I wake you?” he asked as he saw her rub her eyes, though he didn’t sound particularly concerned.

“No. What do you want?”

“Well, I want a lot of things, you’re going to have to be more precise.”

“You cut your hair,” she said, and he wondered if she were already distracted.

He didn’t bother to answer. “Have you thought about my proposition?”

“Your what?” she frowned.

“Don’t tell me your forgot,” he said as he took a small step towards her. “You said you’d think about it. I gave you plenty of time to do so.”

“Oh, that.”

“Yes, ‘that’,” he repeated as he placed a hand on the wall, above his head, and leaned forward. “Let’s talk about it inside.”

She tilted her head and stared at him. She had thought about it, like she said she would, but she didn’t have an answer for him, or at least, not one he’d like.

“I’m not supposed to invite people in,” she said in a whisper as she looked down at her bare feet.

“Now, now. I won’t bite. I promise.”

She looked up at him and hesitated. Inviting a vampire in her home was a stupid idea. Though, Sookie did mention it was possible to revoke the invitation, so, maybe it wasn’t such a big deal.

“Come in,” she said as she stepped aside.

A victorious grin appeared on Eric’s face before he stepped inside the house, his eyes never leaving hers.

“You have a lovely home,” he said, and she didn’t miss the mockery in his tone. “You must be bored stuck here alone.”

She shrugged as she closed the door.

“If you were mine,” he said as he trapped her between the door and his body, “you’d never be bored a day in your life.”

Her eyes grew big and a gasp escaped her lips as his body approached hers. He was so tall it was hard to meet his eyes, but she could see the smirk on his face.

She swallowed. “Sookie says I should stay away from you.”

He chuckled, as if it amused him. “Well, aren’t you a disobedient little human.”

“Why do you even want me anyway? I’m not… like other humans.”

“But that’s exactly what makes you so… interesting,” he said as he ran a finger down her neck and onto her shoulder, brushing her hair aside. His gentle touch sent shivers down her spine, though she had no doubt he had his eyes on her vein.

“If I had been yours the other night, and Longshadow had attacked me, would you have killed him like Bill did?”

“No. I’d have been smarter. I’d have stopped him, and then I’d have taken him away.”

“Away where?”

“Where no one would have seen me.”

“So… you would have killed him?”

“Probably. Vampires should know better than to attack other vampires’ humans.”

“Bill got into a lot of trouble for what he did.”

“It could have been worse. Trust me.”

“You wanna know what I think?” she asked, and he raised an eyebrow. “I think you only want me because you can’t have Sookie. I think if Sookie were available you’d want her instead.”

“Now, why would you think that?” he said as he stepped away from her.

“Because… Sookie’s better. She’s not…” she paused, looking for the word. “She doesn’t glitch.”

He laughed. “And you do?”

“All the time.”

“You think you’re broken? You think you’re… malfunctioning?”

“Sookie can control her ability. I can’t even leave my house.”

“I think it’s all a matter of self-control. What you need is practice, not self-pity.”

“I tried to practice. But Sookie won’t take me anywhere.”

“I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

She frowned and tilted her head. She knew he would. But did she want to go with him?

“Why did you come here tonight?”

He sighed. He obviously had more troubling things to talk about. “The sheriff of Area 9 in Texas has gone missing. His name is Godric. He’s… a friend of mine. I want to take you with me to Dallas, so you can help me find him.”

She opened her mouth, but then closed it. “I… I want to help you but… what can _I_ do? My powers are useless against vampires.”

“There are always humans around to interrogate,” he said. “Besides, I have a theory on who’s behind it.”

“Then why don’t you just go yourself?”

“I can’t. I have no jurisdiction there. And no proof. The humans who may have taken him are idiots but they’re idiots prepared. We’ll know more once we’re in Dallas. One of Godric’s trusted friend is waiting for me. But…” he paused, as if what he wanted to say was hard for him to admit, “I could use your help.”

“I’d like to help you but…”

“Let me guess,” he sighed, “Sookie.”

“She’ll never let me go.”

“If you were mine, your sister wouldn’t be able to tell you what to do anymore.”

“If I were yours, my sister would kick your ass.”

Eric laughed. “She’s welcome to try.”

“I’ll help you,” she said. “Or at least I’ll try.”

“That’s all I ask,” he nodded before he stepped towards her once again. “Now. Let’s get out of here before your sister comes home.”

“Sookie’s with Jessica tonight.”

“Bill has her babysitting?”

“No. She wanted to.”

Eric raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t she take you with her?”

“I… I don’t know,” she shrugged. It hadn’t even crossed her mind. She hadn’t even met Jessica.

“I wouldn’t complain about it, if I were you. Jessica’s unbearably annoying,” he said as he put his hand on the handle of the front door. “You might want to put some shoes on.”

She looked down and remembered she had left her shoes in the living room.

“Where are we going?”

“Fangtasia. We’re going to put that little head of yours to the test.”

***

Fangtasia, as always, was loud. The music was insufferably bad and so were all the thoughts of its human costumers. Sitting on Eric’s lap, Brooklynne had a good view of the club, and the club had a good view of her. She was trying to do as Eric told her, to focus on a man’s thoughts, and his only. He was a short man, though he was probably taller than her, a little heavy, wearing a red shirt and khaki shorts, seemingly out of place among the leather-wearing vampires dancing around him. It took her minutes to slid inside his head. She had had to go through all of the other thoughts that were invading her mind. Pushing them away, and keeping them away, was like building a wall inside her head and it was harder than anything else she had ever tried to do. Every time she put a brick, another one disappeared, taken down by someone else’s thoughts. She wished she could just let Eric’s silence replace the deafening noise inside her head, but he insisted on making her practice, and if she were honest, she needed it.

_“No one’s ever going to make me a vampire. Nobody’s even looking at me. I just want to find a nice vampire lady, maybe I came to the wrong place. I’ll take anyone. I’ll fuck anyone, just make me a vampire!”_

“He wants to become a vampire,” she told Eric. “That’s all he can think about.”

“What else?”

She sighed. “I don’t know. I’m tired.”

“Just focus. How does your sister do it?”

“I don’t know. She says she just stays out of their head. But I’m not even in their head, they’re in mine.”

“Then push them out.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Just do it.”

She sighed again. She closed her eyes as she shook her head. She had a headache. And a big one. Focusing on Eric would be cheating.

“Focus on your own voice,” he told her.

Well, that wasn’t a bad idea, actually. Brooklynne had never tried that. What was she even thinking right now? She didn’t know. She wandered among the loud voices, trying to ignore them, trying to focus on something else. How many people were here? Too many.

Her body relaxed suddenly, and he thought she had managed to cast the voices out of her mind, but as her head fell lazily on his chest, he knew she hadn’t. Her eyes were open, but they weren’t focused on anything. She had gone somewhere else.

“Brooklynne,” he called, snapping his fingers.

She blinked once, then twice, then straightened up.

“Stay with me.”

“Sorry,” she said as she ran a hand through her hair. “I’ll try again.”

She tried to do as he had said, focus on her own voice. She had to find it first. She tried to cast aside the disgusted images and thoughts, wondering how Sookie did it, how she managed to keep them away so well. She eventually found her own voice, and it was like a snake biting its own tail. _“Focus, focus, focus, focus, focus.”_ After a while, all she could hear was this one word. And as all she could hear was her own voice, she took the opportunity to build a wall inside her mind. She wanted it strong, unbreakable, and with a door, a door only she could open.

_“Focus.” _Brick. _“Focus.”_ Brick. _“Focus.”_ Brick. _“Focus.”_ Brick. _“Focus.” _Brick.

She didn’t stop until the wall surrounded that trail of thoughts, her trail of thoughts. She imprisoned the snake and it released its tail.

Silence.

_“I did it.”_ She heard, and it took her a few seconds to realize, it was her own voice.

“Welcome back,” Eric said, and it made her jump. “You’ve been gone for two hours.”

“What?” she breathed out. She looked around and saw there were still a few people around, but most of the crowd was gone. She laughed. A wholehearted laugh she didn’t recognize, but that was coming from her. “You know what she’s thinking?” she asked as she pointed at the girl who was flirting with a vampire near the bar.

“No,” he shrugged with a raised eyebrow, wondering what was so funny.

“Me neither,” she smiled, clapping her hands in victory.

“Well, what a productive night,” Eric smiled back, though with a little mockery. “Can you try and read her mind?”

She stopped laughing. She didn’t want to. What if she opened the door and the wall crumbled?

“I don’t know,” she mumbled.

“Now, in the span of two hours you went from hearing everything to not hearing anything. How about we find a middle ground?”

She sighed. He was right. That’s why she had built that door. She focused. She locked her eyes on the girl and slowly unlocked that door. She held it tightly, firmly. She didn’t want it to open fully because she was afraid she’d never close it again. She had spent her entire life stuck in that house, not being able to go to school, not being able to go play with the other kids. She had grown up thinking her ability was uncontrollable. It turned out she just hadn’t tried hard enough. She closed the door shut, however, when a thought crossed her mind. Sookie didn’t let the voices inside her mind, it’s her mind that found the voices. She shouldn’t open the door to let anything in, she should open it to let something out. She focused again and tried to slip inside the girl’s head.

_“How much is he gonna pay me if I let him bite me? I won’t do it for less than a thousand bucks. I know girls who do it for more than that. And if I fuck him, he’ll give me more.”_

“She’s more interested in his money than anything else,” she told Eric who chuckled, like he already knew that.

“See what happens when you’re with me? You control yourself. Imagine what else you could do if you were mine?”

“Are you ever going to stop asking me that?”

“Once you’re mine, I won’t have to ask you ever again,” he smirked, and she rolled her eyes.

She brought a hand to her forehead, trying to massage her headache away. All this wall building had exhausted her. She rested her head against his chest and felt herself falling asleep. To her surprise, he didn’t stop her.

She didn’t know how long it had been but when she woke up, the club was empty. She was sitting alone on Eric’s chair, and Bill had just burst through the front door with Sookie unconscious in his arms. Brooklynne practically jumped off the chair.

“Eric!” he called, panic and desperation in his voice.

The blond vampire appeared instantly and asked calmly: “What happened?”

“I don’t know. She was attacked by a creature.”

“Sookie, oh my God,” Brooke breathed out as she ran towards them.

“My blood won’t heal her!”

“Pam,” Eric called, still calm, but alerted.

“What?” his progeny asked with her usual annoyed tone as she appeared behind them.

“Go fetch Doctor Ludwig. Now.”

Pam’s eyes fell on Sookie. She saw the blood on Bill’s shirt and the scratches on Sookie’s back that were dripping blood all over the floor. She grimaced then disappeared as fast as she had appeared.

“Did you see the creature?” Eric asked.

“No. She said it was half bull half human,” he said, like he didn’t believe it.

“What?” Brooke breathed out. “Does that… Is that possible?”

“I don’t know,” the sheriff replied. “I’ve never heard of such creature. Which is odd.”

“This… Doctor Ludwig,” Brooklynne asked, “how do you know he’ll be able to help her?”

“She,” Eric corrected her, “specializes in supernatural diseases. She’s our best shot at saving your sister. If she doesn’t know how to heal her, no one does.”

Brooklynne’s heart tightened as a gasp escaped her mouth. A serial killer, a woman found with a hole in her chest, and now this? A Minotaur like creature? What the hell was happening in this town?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter will be posted every Monday.
> 
> Chapter 5 to 9 are available on my Patreon for early and instant access.
> 
> You can support me at patreon.com/alonelydreamer , any support is highly appreciated!
> 
> But if you can't, that's okay! Chapter 5 will be posted next Monday!!


	5. Chapter 5

Eric found an air mattress in his office which Doctor Ludwig used as an operation table. Brooklynne paced around as Bill and Eric watched the fifty-year-old dwarf take her tools out. Sookie was lying on her stomach, three giant scratches bleeding across her back. The blonde slowly woke up, though maybe it would have been better if she hadn’t.

Brooklynne started to make her way towards her sister but Eric stopped her as she walked past him. He took her hand and invited her to sit next to him.

“Let her work,” he said, and she hesitated, giving a look to her injured sister, but then taking a seat next to the vampire.

“What kind of doctor are you?” Sookie asked as she saw Patricia putting surgical gloves on.

“The healing kind,” she replied. “I’m Doctor Ludwig, what’s your name?” she asked, bringing a hand to one of the three scratches on Sookie’s back, making the telepath scream in pain.

Her screams made both Bill and Brooke jump. The vampire was standing behind the doctor, watching her every move carefully.

“Sookie. Sookie Stackhouse,” she managed to reply despite the pain. “Am I dying?”

“Yes.”

“No!” both Bill and Brooke said in unison.

“She cannot die,” Bill continued. “You will save her!”

“Back off, vampire. Let me do my job!”

“Forgive him,” Eric said. “Bill is abnormally attached to this human.”

Brooke frowned, wondering what was abnormal about caring about another person.

“Well, we don’t have a lot of choices. She’s been poisoned. You ever heard of Komodo dragons? Their mouths are teeming with bacteria. After one has bitten you, it will track you for hours, days, just waiting for the toxins to slowly eat away at your nervous system till you’re good and helpless, then it will devour you alive.”

“I was… scratched by a dragon?”

“No, but this poison is similar, but way more efficient. Don’t think I’ve seen it. It’s hard to tell without further testing and we don’t have that kind of time.”

Sookie’s breathing was getting worse and her eyes eventually found her sister, sitting not far from her, on a chair next to Eric. She’d probably have asked her what she was doing here if she had been able to.

“Give us some privacy. I need to remove her clothing. The sister can stay and assist.”

Bill reluctantly left with Eric, leaving Brooklynne alone with her dying sister. She helped the doctor remove Sookie’s shirt and held her to the mattress as she started pouring a liquid on her wounds. Sookie started screaming in pain, the smell was horrible, a mix of burning flesh and something else Brooklynne couldn’t describe. Bill came back as soon as he heard her scream and helped Brooke hold her down. The liquid might have been some kind of alcohol or magic potion, but it cleaned the wounds efficiently. Doctor Ludwig dragged her fingers inside each scratch, removing whatever substance the creature had left inside to poison Sookie. At some point during the treatment, Sookie passed out, which was for the best as the doctor wasn’t anywhere near finished.

It took about two hours for the poison to be completely out of her body. Doctor Ludwig cleaned the blood from her back with a cloth and inspected the wounds one last time before instructing Bill to feed Sookie his blood to finish the healing process.

Brooklynne was sitting on the ground, her back against the bar, exhausted by her exercises from earlier, and the memory of her sister’s screams. She saw a pair of black sneakers stop before her and she looked up to find Eric holding a hand out to her. She took it and he helped her get up. Pam and another vampire neither Brooklynne nor Sookie had ever met came back inside the club at the same time. Pam looked pissed.

“The area has been scanned,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

“Tracks were human, but the smell was distinctly animal.”

“What kind?” Eric asked.

“A filthy one,” Pam answered.

“We didn’t recognize it.”

“How intriguing… Send an alert through the appropriate channels. Find out what the neighbors know.”

The two vampires nodded before they left. Brooklynne could feel her sister’s eyes on her, and she could already hear her scold her for being here. She turned slowly and saw it on her face that she wasn’t happy. She was nodding at whatever Bill was saying but wouldn’t look away from her.

“Would it be okay if we stayed here for the day?” Bill asked. “I don’t want to move her.”

“Of course. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”

“I don’t want to leave her.”

“Longshadow kept a coffin out back. I’ll make it available to you.”

“I thank you for your hospitality, Eric.”

“No problem. I’m sure you two will find a way to repay me,” the vampire smirked. He winked at Brooklynne before he left the room through the ‘Personnel Only’ door.

“What are you doing here, Brooke?” Sookie asked from where she was lying on the black air mattress.

“I…” the youngest Stackhouse looked down at her hands. “Eric came by the house. Brought me here,” she shrugged.

“And you went with him?”

“I was bored at the house. And he helped me control myself! I blocked the voices tonight, I’ll let you know!”

Sookie frowned. “I told you to stay away from him.”

“And I told you not to tell me what to do!”

Sookie rolled her eyes, then sighed. Her eyes landed on Bill, like she was asking him for help. The vampire raised his hands, silently telling her he wasn’t going to get involved in this fight.

“What do you mean you blocked the voices?”

“I… Well, I can control myself now. Like you.”

“Is that why you’ve been ignoring me?” she asked with an impressed tone. “You can’t hear me, can you?”

“No. I can’t.”

“That’s… that’s great, Brooke!” Sookie breathed out a laugh.

“Maybe, if I had been allowed to leave the house, I’d have controlled it earlier.”

“That’s not fair,” Sookie told her. “You never could control it. Gran kept you inside for a reason.”

“Yeah, well now I’m tired to be kept inside.”

Bill cleared his throat, interrupted them. “Sookie should rest, she’s been through a lot,” he told Brooklynne. “And you look like you could use some help too.”

“Go,” Sookie told him. “Go rest, we’ll be fine.”

Bill gave her a small smile, then nodded, before he followed Eric’s footsteps and left them alone. Sookie was about to say something but Brooklynne stopped her before she got the chance to open her mouth.

“Save it. I don’t want to hear it,” she said before she walked out.

***

When Brooke got out of the bathroom ten minutes after she walked in, Sookie was already asleep. She made her way to the couch in the corner and laid down, facing her sister. She fell asleep almost instantly, which was to be expected. Brooklynne tired easily.

Sookie woke up in the middle of the afternoon. She was wearing a red shirt from Fangtasia. She had nothing else to wear since her shirt had been torn to pieces by a giant bull-headed creature. She was greeted by Ginger who was cleaning up the club. It was Ginger’s scream that woke up Brooklynne. She jumped awake to see her big sister pointing a gun at the waitress, or whatever Ginger’s job was.

“What…” she breathed out. “Sookie!”

“Eric’s been keeping Lafayette in the basement,” she explained. “Take me to him!” she ordered Ginger.

The two sisters followed her down the dark and cold basement where they found their friend sitting in a corner at the other end of the room.

“Oh my God,” Brooke breathed out as she saw the chains around his neck.

“Give me the key!”

“I don’t have it, I swear!”

“Lafayette,” Sookie called as she crouched down near him. “Lafayette are you okay?”

“Sookie? Is that really you?”

“What happened to his leg?” Brooke asked Ginger.

“I… I… I shot him.”

“You what?!”

“He was trying to escape! Eric would have killed me!”

Brooklynne felt like she was going to be sick. The smell, the view… it was all too much. _I can’t believe Eric would do that, _she thought. But then, she realized, she could indeed believe it. She could almost hear Sookie say _I told you so._

***

Sookie waited patiently for the night to fall. Brooklynne avoided her gaze for the rest of the afternoon. She had returned to the couch where she had fallen asleep and started to regret having told Eric she’d go to Dallas with him. When she got the courage to tell her sister about what she had done, Sookie had said she wouldn’t be going anywhere with Eric, especially not to Dallas, and especially not alone.

Bill woke up first and was relieved to see Sookie awake and in good health. Sookie wasn’t as happy to see him, but she hugged him back when he took her into his arms. He frowned when she didn’t smile back at him.

“Are you still angry about our fight? Sookie, none of that matters now…”

“You’re right. I’m alive and in once piece, unlike my friend Lafayette who Eric chained up like an animal and left to bleed to death!”

“What?”

“You better not have known anything about this, Bill Compton, because if you did, I don’t think I could ever forgive you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“She’s referring to the human in my basement,” Eric said as he joined them into the room. Brooke looked up at him but then looked away when he looked back. “The human that traded sexual services with a vampire in order to sell his blood. Which, as you know, is a grave offense.”

“His name is Lafayette,” Sookie snarled at him as she went his way, “and you ought to be ashamed of yourself for what you’ve done to him!” she said before she slapped him as hard as she could. Eric barely budged.

“Sookie!” Bill reprimanded her, worried as to how Eric was going to react.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he told her with a smile. “And may I add, that color suits you very well.”

“Go to Hell!”

“Sookie, enough!” Bill stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh, it’s not nearly enough! They’ve tortured him and bitten him and shot him and kept him down there in his own filth for weeks!”

She paused, waiting for an answer from the vampire, but it’s Bill who spoke up first.

“Is this true?”

“There are others who would have done far worse, and you know it.”

“You’re gonna let him go right now or I swear I’m going to the police!”

Eric instantly growled at her, showing his fangs, his face inches from hers, the sudden movement making Sookie jump. Brooklynne jumped on her feet, worried the vampire would hurt her sister.

“I do not respond well to threats,” he told her.

She swallowed but didn’t move. Eric’s pupils moved to the corner of his eyes where they found Brooklynne a few feet away. He then looked back at Sookie as he stepped away.

“But perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement,” he smiled. “Please,” he gestured for her to follow him. “You too,” he told Brooklynne.

The young telepath hesitated but knew she didn’t really have a choice. She looked at him warily as she approached, making sure she stayed close to her sister as they walked out of the club and into Eric’s office.

It was a small room, big enough for a desk, two chairs, a couch and a few shelves where he had stocked boxes of Tru Blood. He leaned against his desk and started to explain what it would take for him to let Lafayette go.

“Your sister already agreed to come with me to Dallas.”

“Brooklynne isn’t going anywhere alone with you. You took advantage of her!”

“I did no such thing,” the vampire said, and he sounded almost offended. Not for him, but for Brooklynne. “I asked and she said yes.”

“She didn’t know any better!”

Brooklynne would have felt insulted if she didn’t think her sister had a point. She should have listened to her sibling. The fact that she was surprised he had kidnapped and tortured Lafayette for weeks proved that she wasn’t ready to make decisions for herself, not when it came to Eric anyway. She should have known better. He was a vampire, after all. But then again, so was Bill. And Bill would never do such a thing, or else Sookie wouldn’t be with him.

“You can come too, if you want. Two telepaths is better than one, I suppose.”

Sookie frowned. “If I go to Dallas and help you find your friend, then you’ll let Lafayette go?”

“You are not going to Dallas,” Bill protested. “You almost died last night!”

“I am old enough to make my own decisions, Bill.”

“I will pay all of your expenses, of course,” Eric interrupted the couple. “And, yes, I will release your friend.”

“And I want $5000. For both of us,” she said, looking at Brooklynne who feared it wasn’t a good idea to be bargaining with Eric right now. Bill gave her a reproving look to which she responded: “What? I’ve missed a lot of work and I need a driveway. And Brooke’s never worked a day in her life, she could use the money.”

Brooke chose to stay silent and avoided Eric’s gaze when he turned to look at her. She felt stupid for trusting him. For spending the night on his lap while Lafayette was suffering in the basement. She was ashamed of herself.

“Your human is getting cocky,” Eric said silently. He obviously didn’t appreciate her negotiating with him.

“They will take $10000 each, and I will escort them,” was Bill’s response.

“I don’t think so, no.”

“Yes,” Sookie insisted. “Ten thousand and Bill comes with me or it’s a deal breaker.”

Eric considered it. She gave another look at Brooklynne who was still looking at her feet, looking like she had just been caught doing something bad.

“You surprise me,” he told Sookie. “And that is a rare quality in a breather.”

“You disgust me,” Sookie merely replied.

“Perhaps I’ll grow on you,” he said, as his eyes fell on Brooklynne once more.

“I’d prefer cancer.”

Bill tried hard not to smile too much at the exchange.

“You need to leave immediately,” Eric told the vampire.

“I will make the travel arrangements. But I will need your credit-card number.”

Eric nodded. “See you in Dallas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!
> 
> I hope you liked it!
> 
> Chapter 6 to 9 are already available on my patreon page at patreon.com/alonelydreamer
> 
> Any support is highly appreciated!
> 
> But if you can't, that's okay!
> 
> A new chapter is posted every Monday!
> 
> Have a great week!


	6. Chapter 6

Brooklynne had never left Louisiana. She thought she’d be happy to visit another state, but it seemed the silence in her head was heavier than she would have imagined. Her lonely voice wasn’t as pleasant as she’d have thought, especially since she was beating herself up for blindly trusting Eric despite her sister’s advice. Sookie hadn’t mentioned it and the two sisters had barely talked as they were getting ready to leave for Dallas.

They left in the late afternoon, the plane having been delayed for a couple of hours. Bill didn’t feel comfortable leaving Jessica alone in Bon Temps and had taken her with them. The two vampires were resting in their travel coffins while Sookie and Brooklynne enjoyed the private plane Bill had booked, with Eric’s credit-car.

‘Enjoyed’ wasn’t a word neither sisters would have used, however, since neither of them talked to the other. Brooklynne was second guessing herself. What if Sookie were right? What if Adele had had a good reason to keep her inside the house? Maybe she was too naïve to be trusted to make decisions for herself, especially if those decisions led her to another state with a psycho vampire like Eric Northman.

“You’ll get used to it,” Sookie said suddenly, and for once, Brooke had no idea what she was talking about. “Being alone in your head,” she clarified once she saw the confused look on her sister’s face.

“It’s weird. Now it requires effort to listen to other people… I don’t know what to do with my thoughts.”

“Do you still get distracted?”

“Sometimes,” she shrugged.

“Everybody gets distracted sometimes,” Sookie said with a smile. “I still can’t believe you finally managed to control it.”

“I don’t think I did… I think I blocked the voices, but I didn’t control it. I don’t.”

“It will take time. You’ll control it eventually.”

“Can _you_ even control it?”

Sookie sighed. “Sometimes.”

When the plane landed, Sookie was half drunk. She took a bottle of whatever alcohol it was every time the flight attendant asked if she wanted one. Brooke watched as she emptied the small bottles one after the other.

Flying wasn’t as scary as the youngest Stackhouse had previously thought, but she was still relieved to be on the ground once again. She straightened her dress, a white lace skater dress her grandmother had gifted her for her birthday but had never had the occasion to wear. She had borrowed pastel pink pumps from her sister, shoes Sookie hated because of their color and the height of their heels. But Brooklynne didn’t mind standing a little taller, even though her 5’4 sister was shorter than her by 2 inches. She was still no match for the intimidating 6’4 vampire though, not even with the five-inch heels.

Sookie was looking as bright as the sun in her yellow dress and white pumps. She almost tripped as she walked down the stairs, though it could have been the alcohol’s fault more than it was the heels’, or maybe it was a combination of both. Their heels clacked on each step of the metal stairs, but their steps became silent as they reached the ground.

A bald man was waiting for them with a ‘Compton Party’ sign in his hands. The black limo contrasted with the bright white of the room but matched its driver who was also wearing an all-black suit. Brooklynne thought he looked nervous, but Sookie was too inebriated to notice.

“Yoohoo,” she said as she waved at him with a big smile, “that’s us!”

Brooklynne watched as the airport employees took Bill and Jessica’s coffins out of the plane. She wondered how they traveled before they came out to the world and all of these services were publicly available.

“You’re two hours late,” the driver told them, and that could have explained his nervousness. “You were supposed to be here before sundown.”

“We got delayed for takeoff,” Sookie explained.

“Why don’t you go in the limo? I got the A.C cranked up.”

“No, thanks, I’m fine. I’m waiting for my boyfriend to wake up,” she said with a smile as she pointed towards the two coffins behind her.

“Well, you can wait inside, there are cokes in there,” he insisted.

Sookie frowned. She now noticed the pearls of sweat sliding down his temple. She looked up at her sister who had no idea what the man was thinking and liked it that way. For once, however, her uncontrollable ability would have been very helpful.

_“Get in the limo, you stupid bitch.”_

Sookie gasped as the man’s thoughts resonated inside her head. He then seized her, making Brooke jump at the sudden movement.

“Let me go!” Sookie said as she tried to free herself from his hands.

“Stop it!” Brooke ordered, but for the first time in her life, it didn’t work. Confused by her failed attempt at helping her sister, she didn’t have time to see nor avoid the hand that met with her face violently. A cry of pain escaped her.

“Hey! Don’t touch her!” Sookie snarled.

She was about to kick him somewhere he really wouldn’t have liked but Bill, sensing her fear, appeared suddenly, removing the man’s hands from his girlfriend and seizing him by throat.

“Make a noise and it’ll be your last,” the vampire warned, showing his fangs to prove how serious he was.

Both Sookie and Brooke jumped as a loud noise resonated in the airport. They turned around to see the top of Bill’s coffin bounce on the floor.

“Hey! How the hell does this thing open?” Jessica asked from inside her coffin, which fell off the platform and found a place next to Bill’s.

“Are you okay?” Sookie asked her sister who had a hand on her reddened cheek.

Brooke frowned, ignoring the question. “I don’t understand why it didn’t work.”

“It’s gonna leave a nasty bruise,” Sookie said as she inspected her sister’s cheekbone.

“Do you want me to heal her?” Bill asked.

“No,” she grimaced. She probably didn’t want her sister to have odd dreams about her boyfriend, which they both understood.

“I don’t understand why it didn’t work,” Brooke repeated in a whisper and Sookie ignored her again.

Bill glamoured the man to get in the limo in silence before he helped Jessica out of her coffin. Brooklynne and Sookie sat at the opposite of the car, facing their assailant who was sitting wordlessly as Bill had ordered. Jessica joined them in the car, sitting next to the driver/kidnapper. Bill sat in front of him, ready to glamour his answers away.

“Tell me your name.”

“Leon.”

“Alright, Leon. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Brooklynne watched, still upset by the fact that her power hadn’t worked on Leon. She wondered if that wall she had built inside her head was not only blocking the voices from coming in, but also her powers from coming out. She didn’t know how to feel about it.

Bill slowly moved his eyes from Leon to his progeny, asking her if she wanted to try glamouring him. By the surprised look on her face, Brooke deduced she had never even tried it before.

“Lean in close so you can catch his gaze,” Bill told her as she positioned herself in front of Leon. “Then just let everything go. Let yourself be dead. You are empty. A vacuum. Now you can pull his mind into yours.”

It sounded very different from what Brooklynne usually did when she tried to control herself. She couldn’t let herself go or else who knew where she’d ended up. Physically or mentally. Though, now that she was empty, it seemed that she couldn’t pull anybody’s mind into hers anymore. And she didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Bill left Jessica have a little fun with Leon and came to sit beside his girlfriend. Bill always looked worried, but this time he had a good reason to be.

“This man was sent to abduct you,” he told both sisters. “Which means somebody knew you were coming.”

“Who do you think’s behind it? Vampires?” Sookie asked.

He shook his head. “Too sloppy… Maybe that church?”

“Bill, they may be crazy but they’re still a church. They’re not gonna kidnap anybody.”

The vampire chuckled. “Sookie, churches have done much, much worse throughout history.”

“Eric said he thought humans had taken Godric,” Brooke told them. “Maybe it’s the same humans that tried to take us.”

“It’s possible,” Bill nodded. “I’ll glamour Leon to drive us to the hotel. I’ll inform Eric of what happened when we get there.”

Brooke sighed as she leaned against her seat. She didn’t want to see Eric. Now, she had the clarity of mind to be scared of him. As she should be.

***

The hotel was bigger than any other buildings Brooke had ever laid her eyes on. It was a rectangular big old thing that had just been renovated, or maybe it was brand new and it was designed to look that way, Brooke couldn’t tell. The design inside would give anyone a headache, especially because of the lights. Everything was red, black and golden, but the lights, for some reason, were blue. The walls, the floor, the décor, everything was as similar as it was different. It was all very elegant though somewhat ridiculous. Maybe because they tried to make it appealing to both humans and vampires and it ended up being all nonsense.

Everything went well at the reception, putting aside the room with no bed Eric had booked for Bill and Sookie, which they ended up changing. Brooklynne had a room of her own, which surprised all of them, however Sookie was more than happy to have a room alone with her boyfriend and didn’t complain about it. Brooklynne’s room was bigger than her living room and the bed was gigantic. The design was the same in every room, black and red, no windows, a giant TV on the wall and a bathroom big enough for a shower and a bathtub so big it could have been a hot tub.

Leon’s interrogation didn’t answer all of their questions, but at least answered the biggest one. Who was behind the attempted kidnapping. Bill was very angry at Eric for not letting him know the Fellowship of the Sun was involved in Godric’s disappearance, though there was nothing he could really do about it. The vampire had glamoured Leon to forget they ever arrived at the airport before he let him go.

Alone in her quiet hotel room, Brooklynne decided to do some research on the Fellowship of the Sun. They were a church created by Reverend Theodore Newlin which had just died in a car accident with his wife and their baby daughter. His son Steve was convinced vampires were behind their deaths and took over the church, and resumed spreading his father’s message of hate towards the creatures of the night. The church, which was based here, in Dallas, seemed like a cult to Brooklynne, who wished she could remember why that church sounded so familiar.

She fell asleep a little after midnight, the laptop sliding from her lap and onto the red silk sheets. She had changed into comfortable sleepwear, a pair of pastel blue shorts and an old white crop top which was a little too tight for her now. She was woken up less than an hour later by someone entering the room. She jumped awake as she heard footsteps. Her eyes grew big as she saw Eric standing at the end of the bed. She felt her cheeks redden as his gaze traveled from her bare legs to her exposed belly button to her face.

“Well, don’t you look happy to see me,” he chuckled as he saw the fear in her eyes.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” she asked, enveloping herself in the bedsheets.

“We share a room, didn’t you know?” he said as he took off his black leather jacket, leaving him in his white sleeveless shirt.

“What? Why?”

“It’s cheaper,” he shrugged, though she knew he was lying. He could have booked the entire hotel if he had wanted to, according to Bill. “Besides. You’re in Dallas now. The vampires here are no joke.”

“And you are?” the sassy remark escaped her.

Eric raised an eyebrow, perhaps impressed by her unexpected reply.

“I guess not, or else you wouldn’t be scared of me,” he said with a smile as if he were proud of it.

He threw his jacket on the couch at the corner of the room before he leaned over the bed, placing a knee on the soft mattress, then the other, making his way next to Brooke. He rested his back against the bedframe as he sighed.

“I’ve had a long day. I could use a snack.”

Brooke swallowed as she tried to think of a clever answer, one Sookie would have come up with.

“I am not your dinner,” is all she said.

“No, but you could be my dessert,” he smirked which made her blush again.

She looked away from him, which is when he noticed the bruise on her cheek. He was so fast it made her jump. He seized her chin in his hand, firmly, though not hard enough to hurt her, and made her look at him so he could get a better look.

“What happened?” he asked, the anger in his tone worried her.

“Nothing,” she replied quickly in a whisper. “The man… Leon. He hit me when he tried to take Sookie.”

“And Bill let him go,” he said in disapproval, as if he would have done differently, which she knew he probably would have. “My blood can heal you,” he offered as he released her.

“Your blood can do a lot of things,” she muttered, remembering the side effects Bill’s blood had on Sookie.

“Indeed,” Eric chuckled. “It could lead to a lot of fun.”

“I’m not gonna have sex with you,” she told him, and she expected him to laugh at her, but he merely shrugged.

“Not tonight, maybe not,” he said as he leaned towards her.

She tried to move back as his nose reached her neck, but she was already at the edge of the bed.

“Dangerous walking around vampires not belonging to anyone,” he said with a deep and quiet voice, “my offer still stands.”

“No, thank you,” she told him with a trembling voice.

He chuckled, as if he had expected her to reject him. “Fine, then,” he said, leaning back against the bedframe, “I’ll let you sleep. You’ll need to be well rested tomorrow. We’re meeting with Godric’s people as soon as the sun sets.”

“Why do you care so much about Godric?” she asked, remembering he had once told her vampires only cared about their makers and their progeny.

“I told you, he’s my friend.”

“How long have you known him?”

“A thousand years.”

“A thousand years? Did you make him?”

He chuckled like it was a ridiculous thing to say. “No. He made _me_.”

Brooklynne wasn’t surprised to hear it. After all it explained a lot. She couldn’t imagine someone who tortured people in his basement would care about others.

“So, he’s your maker. That’s why you care so much about him.”

“Vampires are loyal to their makers. Godric is… the best maker I could’ve asked for.”

She saw he was sincere. It made her wonder. Was Godric as bad as he was? Or was he worse?

“Is he the one who taught you to torture people in your basement?”

He shot her a look and she wondered if she had gone too far.

“You’re still mad about your friend Lafayette?” he asked, like it was something she’d ever get over.

“Of course,” she said as if it was surprising he’d think otherwise.

“Your friend sold _and _used vampire blood. If I didn’t make an example out of him I would be seen as weak. And I can’t have that.”

“You could have called the police.”

“Yes, I could have,” he nodded. “But I had questions. Questions about Godric.”

“What does Lafayette know about your maker?”

“Nothing, as it turned out. But I still needed to ask.”

“You didn’t need to torture him.”

“No, but it’s always more fun,” he grinned.

Outrage ran through her as she fought back the want to slap him. She clenched her jaw, but then looked away. She slid under the sheets, turned her back towards him and laid down on the bed, indicating the conversation was over.

He chuckled again before he got off the bed. “And a good night to you too, Brooklynne,” he said before he left the room.

***

She woke up around 10AM and was surprised to find Eric sleeping beside her. He had kept his distance and the bed was so big another person could have slept between them without bothering either of them. She didn’t know what to do, she was afraid to move. She didn’t want to wake him up. She wondered how true what Sookie had once told her was. Vampires slept all day, from sunrise to sundown and it took a lot to wake them up. She put that to the test.

She ordered breakfast and Eric slept through it. She took a shower and got dressed and he was still sleeping when she stepped out of the bathroom. Sookie came knocking on her door around noon, to go get lunch downstairs, and he didn’t even move at all. She found it extremely creepy, especially since he looked dead when he was asleep. She didn’t let her sister see the vampire in the room, or else she’ll never hear the end of it, and she didn’t want her to wake him up. She couldn’t get used to the way he was looking at her, like she was his dinner or something he wanted, something he desired to own.

During lunch, Sookie was going and on and on about Barry, a man working in the hotel who happened to be a telepath like them. He seemed to be unable to control his ability, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been for Broolkynne.

“Can he order people around?”

“I asked and he had no idea what I was talking about.”

“I’m worried that… you know… now that I blocked it, I… I just made everything stop.”

“You can’t hear anything at all?”

“No, which is great! But…” she sighed. “I know if I focused I could do it, I just don’t understand why I couldn’t make Leon stop last night!”

“I think you just need to practice. You know, like, before everything was messy inside your head and you had no control over any of it so it kind of just happened, but now that you do, you just need to put more effort into it.”

“Like glamouring… I’ll have to look them in the eyes?”

“Maybe,” Sookie shrugged. “But at least now you can have lunch with me in a restaurant, surrounded by other people,” she smiled as she put her hand over her sister’s.

“I know, it’s weird… I keep forgetting there are other people around us… And then they’ll move, and they’ll scare the hell out of me,” she joked.

“Well, like I said. You’ll get used to it.”

“Maybe I could even get a job. You think Sam needs another waitress?”

“I think you’d be a better bartender.”

They laughed as they talked about the things Brooklynne could do now that she didn’t even dare dream of before. She wondered if the wall would be permanent, if it would stand forever, and what it would take to have it crumble down. She hoped she could at least find herself a job and have a semblance of a normal life.

Eric was still sleeping when she came back into the room. According to Sookie, she could watch TV right next to him and it wouldn’t wake him up. It proved to be true. She was still watching an old soap opera, which she used to watch with her grandmother, when Eric rose from the bed. Like a clock, he opened his eyes when the sun went down. Alerted by the movement behind her, she turned around to see him make his way from the bed to where she was sitting on the couch.

“How do you do that?”

“What?”

“Wake up as soon as it’s dark outside.”

“Habit,” he shrugged. “We can feel it.”

He took a bottle of Tru Blood from the mini fridge before he sat beside her. Brooklynne was surprised he’d drink from a bottle. He saw the look on her face and smirked.

“Unless you want to volunteer?”

“I saw there are _people_ on the menu,” she said, not bothering to hide her disgust.

“Somehow I think you’re not going to appreciate watching me drink from someone.”

She frowned. “That’s very considerate of you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said before he brought the bottle of synthetic blood to his lips. “What are you watching?” he asked, clearly not happy with the program.

“It was Gran’s favorite show,” she explained. “She never missed an episode.”

“You know,” he said, as he put the bottle down on the coffee table before them, “there are more interesting things to watch here.”

“Like what?” she asked, not removing her attention from the nurse crying over her dead boss.

Eric moved closer to her, putting his hand on the arm of the couch, blocking her view to the TV with his face. “I’ll let you take a guess.”

She frowned, thinking about it for a moment before she rolled her eyes. “I’ve been hearing everybody’s dirty thoughts since I was a child. You want to watch porn, there’s a laptop on the nightstand.”

Her surprising response made him laugh. “I forgot how different you are from other humans. Though you do look better than the first time we met. I’ll take credit for that.”

Well, she couldn’t take the credit away. It was him who had taken her to his hellish club and forced her to face the crowd. It was him who had pushed her to try and take control of her powers. Where her entire family had chosen to keep her inside, away from people, he had done the opposite, and it had only taken one night for her to get positive results. Or at least, some results.

“How many vampires will there be at the meeting tonight?”

He looked down at her and saw how worried she was. Well, at least she wasn’t dumb. She was going to have to enter a room filled with vampires and she was right to be nervous. She was smart to be scared.

“Two,” he said, and he saw she was a little reassured.

“And they think the Fellowship of the Sun has Godric too?”

“They suspect, but we have no proof. That’s why you’re here.”

“Do they know… that we’re here to help?”

“Yes. You have nothing to fear from Isabel. I believe she has a human of her own. She is… reasonable.”

“But the other vampire isn’t?”

“You could say that. But if you don’t get in his way, he won’t hurt you. Especially since you’re with me.”

“Doesn’t he want us to help?”

“It would be in his interest if Godric was never found. Stan has ambitions to become a sheriff one day. Besides, he hates humans, and will find the idea to request human help appalling, but he has no power to stop it.”

“So… avoid Stan and trust Isabel, then?”

Eric nodded. “Sounds wise.”

A knock on the door interrupted them. It was time to leave for the meeting and, unsurprisingly, Bill was right on time. The vampire had a lot of qualities and, apparently, punctuality was one of them. When Eric opened the door, he met with a surprised Bill and an angry Sookie. He could already hear her tell him to stay away from her sister.

“Eric,” Bill said. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, it’s my room,” he grinned.

“No. This is Brooke’s room,” Sookie snarled.

“Yes, we’re sharing.”

“And are you sharing the bed too?” Bill asked, knowing it would put Sookie in a rage and already enjoying annoying Eric.

“Don’t worry, it’s a big bed,” Eric winked at the eldest sister.

“You’re getting anoth-“

“We should go,” Brooke interrupted them. It’s not that she wasn’t grateful for her sister’s protection, but she just wished she’d let her take care of herself for once. “We don’t want to be late,” she continued as she appeared next to Eric.

“No. We don’t want to be late,” he said, as he put his hand on her lower back and gently pushed her out of the room.

Sookie gave a “if you hurt her I’m going to kill you and Bill will help” look to Eric which only made the vampire smirk.

“Keep your energy, Sookie. We have a long night and a long day ahead of us.”

And he wasn’t lying.

Stan and Isabel were as different as Eric and Bill. One wanted to shoot first and ask questions later, and the other was smarter. The group from Bon Temps watched as the two underlings argued in Godric’s living room. It was a big house, surprisingly white and bright and with big windows giving a view of the streets. Eric was pacing as he listened to them yell at each other on how to proceed.

“We take them all out at once. Pre-emptive strike,” Stan said with a heavy Texan accent.

“Of course, so the federal government can bomb us back into the Middle Ages!” Isabel replied with a Spanish accent of her own.

Stan scoffed. “Things were better then.”

“Then go to Romania and live in a cave, you ranchero poser!” 

Eric growled as he picked up a vase from the table beside him and threw it across the room. The sudden burst of anger made Brooke jump. She was standing next to her sister, who was also surprised by the vampire’s reaction.

“Godric has protected you, made you rich, and you stand here spitting and scratching like infants!”

“Don’t any of you care that there’s a traitor in your midst?” Bill asked.

“No,” Stan merely replied like he did, in fact, not care at all, or maybe he just didn’t believe it.

“Impossible,” Isabel rejected the idea.

“Someone tried to kidnap me and my sister from the airport,” Sookie told them.

“You were the only ones that knew they were coming.”

“Explain,” Eric ordered them as he placed himself near Brooklynne.

“Unless it was you,” both Stan and Isabel told each other in unison.

“Look, if y’all argue anymore, I’m either gonna fall asleep or start screaming so this is what we’re gonna do,” Sookie told them, ignoring the look her sister was giving her. Brooke didn’t imagine using that kind of tone was smart, especially if she were going to tell two vampires what to do. “We’ll infiltrate the Fellowship of the Sun.”

A plan both sisters had agreed to at lunch. It seemed like the only way to make themselves useful and to actually get results.

“Absolutely not!”

Sookie obviously hadn’t shared her plans with Bill.

“Let her speak,” Eric said, to Bill and Stan’s dismay.

“Since Bill glamoured the kidnapper, no one there knows who we are. We’ll pretend we want to join the church and check out all their thoughts.”

“No. During the day, none of us can help you,” Bill told her.

“It’ll only take a little while. Really, Bill it’s simple.”

Stan shook his head. “Waste of time,” he growled as he started walking away. “I want no part of this.”

Isabel wasn’t sad to see him go. “There’s no easier way to find out if they’re involved.”

“If it leads us to Godric, we’ll do it,” Eric nodded. “The decision is made.”

Brooklynne already felt a headache coming as Bill and Sookie started to argue. But as the vampire had learnt to know, he couldn’t tell Sookie what to do, and he couldn’t stop Eric from getting what he wanted. Something Sookie was coming to learn as well since no matter what she said and how loud she said it, Eric wouldn’t agree to book himself another room.

“Your sister is quite annoying,” the vampire complained as he closed the door to their room, after Bill had pulled Sookie away into theirs.

“She doesn’t like you,” Brooke replied as she was looking through her luggage for better sleepwear, something less revealing than she was wearing last night. Unfortunately, she had only packed dresses and shorts.

“I’ve noticed.”

Brooke went into the bathroom without saying another word. She took a long shower, hoping that when she’d come out, Eric would be gone. And maybe he had read her mind, or he had important things to take care of, but when she stepped back into the room, he was gone. She slid under the bedsheets, relieved to be alone, and slept the entire night, undisturbed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!
> 
> Chapter 7 is already available for early access on my Patreon page! Chapter 8 and 10 are available for early access!!  
You can find me at patreon.com/alonelydreamer !  
Any support is hugely appreciated!  
But if you can't, that's okay! Chapter 7 will be posted next week!
> 
> Have a good week!!


	7. Chapter 7

It was dark. The ground was wet, but not with water, with something thicker, something hotter. Brooke was barefoot, trying to find her way out of the dark, out of the silence. She saw a light, far, far away, and started running towards it. The light grew bigger as she approached and eventually started to recognize the room appearing before her. She could hear her grandmother humming as she cooked in the kitchen. The room seemed to flicker, as if it was about to disappear. Brooke ran faster, and faster, until she got there, as if she had just come through the back door. But when she arrived, her grandmother wasn’t there. She wasn’t humming anymore. The pan was still on the stove, the sausages burning dark. Brooke looked around, looking for her grandmother, the smell of the burning breakfast hitting her nostrils.

“Brooklynne,” Adele’s voice was heard in the kitchen, making the telepath jump.

She looked around again, turning on herself, again and again, or maybe it was the room that was moving. She saw trails of blood on the floor, bloody footprints coming through the back door and into the kitchen.

“Look at the mess you’ve made,” Adele said with a reproving tone, the one she used to use when she scolded her grandchildren.

Brooklynne looked down at her feet, they were covered in blood. She examined herself, her legs, her abdomen, her hands, but found nothing. The blood wasn’t hers.

“Look at the mess you’ve made,” Adele repeated, or maybe it was just an echo.

Brooklynne turned around again, just to find her grandmother laying on the floor before her, at the foot of the stove. She was bleeding, and her blood was spilling on the floor, fast, and it wouldn’t stop. Like a bathtub being filled with water. Brooklynne heard a scream, maybe it was hers, maybe it was Adele’s.

“I came for you, you stupid cunt!” René’s voice echoed in the room, or maybe it was all in her head. Brooklynne tried to find him but she didn’t see him anywhere.

“Look at the mess you’ve made,” Adele’s voice repeated over and over again as her blood invaded the room.

“Look at the mess you’ve made.”

_“Look at the mess you’ve made.”_

_“Look at the mess you’ve made.”_

_“Look at the mess you’ve made.”_

_“Look at the mess you’ve made.”_

***

Brooklynne woke up in a start. She jumped awake with a gasp, the nightmare causing her to sit bolt upright on the bed. Pearls of sweat slid down her temples, maybe a tear or two fell down her cheeks. She was panting, her body trembling, her eyes adjusting to the faint red light coming from one of the floor lamps at the corner of the room.

“You’d have more pleasant dreams with my blood in your system,” Eric said, startling her.

He was sitting at the foot of the bed, on his side. He couldn’t have been further away. She missed, or ignored, the concerned look on his face, perhaps because he was trying to hide it.

“You weren’t dreaming about me, were you?” he asked, maybe trying to be funny.

“No,” she answered in a whisper, definitely not in the mood for jokes.

She wiped away the sweat and tears, ran a hand through her messy and damp hair before pushing the sheets away. She was holding back her tears, not wanting to cry, or not in front of him anyway.

“I was about to wake you,” he admitted. “Wherever you were, you didn’t like it.”

Brooke tried to ignore him, closing her eyes and shaking her head, then taking a deep breath.

“What time is it?”

“Almost 6. You can go back to sleep.”

She sighed. She didn’t want to go back to sleep, no matter how tired she felt.

“What are you gonna do today?” she asked, changing the subject. “While we’re at the church?”

“Sleep.”

“Aren’t you worried about Godric?”

“Of course I am,” he said, as he moved to sit beside her. “But I still need to sleep.”

“You’re dead. Why do you need to sleep anyway?”

“Vampires need to sleep during the day. Or we bleed.”

“Bleed?” she frowned.

“It’s not pretty. We get tired, we start bleeding. From the nose, the ears…”

“Gross,” she grimaced.

“Indeed,” he nodded. “Do you want to tell me what that nightmare was about?”

“No,” she answered quickly, maybe too quickly. “What do you care?”

“Just curious,” he shrugged. “You looked terrified, and I should know, I usually get that kind of reaction out of people.”

Brooke brought her knees to her chest and rested her chin between her knees.

“I was dreaming about my grandmother…”

“Well she must have been one scary lady.”

“She was not!”

Eric raised an eyebrow at her.

“She wasn’t, she was the kindest person I knew!”

“Okay,” he raised his hands as an apology. “Then why was she in your nightmare?”

Brooklynne sighed. “She was murdered… I found her. I found… the blood… and…” she shook her head. “Just so much blood.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said, and when she looked up at him, she knew he meant it, which surprised her.

“Thank you…”

“You should go back to sleep. It’s going to be a long day for you.”

“What will happen if we find out the Fellowship has Godric.”

“Nothing good, I can assure you.”

He didn’t need to elaborate. She could imagine what Stan would do to the Fellowship of the Sun, what he would have done even if they hadn’t taken his sheriff.

She nodded, sliding back under the bedsheets. But this time she wasn’t turning her back to him. This time, she really didn’t want to be alone.

***

Brooklynne was supposed to meet Sookie for lunch. She was surprised to find her in the hotel restaurant with another man. Her sister introduced her to Hugo, Isabel’s human. The youngest Stackhouse remembered that Eric had mentioned Isabel had a human of her own. He had insisted in going to the church with them, to help Isabel look for her sheriff. According to Sookie, he loved Isabel, and Brooklynne was content enough not to have to listen for herself to hear if it were true.

They were eating at a small table for four, getting ready for the meeting with Sarah and Steve Newlin at 3.

“You’re Holly,” he told Sookie, “and I’m Rufus. We’re getting married and we’re looking for a church. And you are Mackenzie, Holly’s sister and maid of honor.”

“And you have social anxiety and ADD, so nobody will expect you to talk.”

“Nothing new then,” Brooke sighed as she leaned against the back of her seat.

“I thought you’d prefer it that way.”

“It’ll be easier to focus,” she shrugged. “I will shut up and… try to listen.”

She was really worried her powers would fail like they had two days before. She couldn’t guarantee that she’d be able to open that door and listen in on anyone, or even order anyone around. She felt bad for not telling Sookie who was counting on her in case things went wrong.

She left for another world, uninterested in what her sister and Hugo were talking about. Maybe she blacked out, because when Sookie brought her back, she had no idea where she had gone to. But whatever Hugo had said, Sookie hadn’t liked it at all.

As her sister got up from her chair, Brooke took a good look at what she was wearing. She was ready for church, that was for sure. They all were. She was wearing dark blue ballerinas, a dark blue dress with cherries scattered all over it, a pearl necklace, very light makeup and she had curls in her hair. Hugo was wearing a brown suit, with a light blue shirt and a dark blue tie. Brooklynne was wearing a simple white shirt and a pastel pink flared skirt that stopped right above her knees and that matched her pastel pink pumps.

Hugo drove them to the church and whatever he had said to Sookie was still bothering her because she stayed silent the whole time. Sarah Newlin was waiting for them in the parking lot right in front of the church. She was wearing a golden skirt suit and a big smile on her face.

“Hi there,” she greeted them as soon as they got out of the car. “I just happened to be looking out the window as you were driving up and I thought I’d come on out and greet you myself,” she said all in one breath.

Sookie walked fast, maybe she was in a hurry and wanted to be done with this as soon as possible, or maybe she was just nervous, but she approached the reverend’s wife with big steps and a smile on her face.

“I’m Sarah Newlin,” she continued, holding out a hand to Sookie, which she took hastily. “And you all are?”

“Hi, Holly Simpson,” Sookie answered, to Hugo’s surprise.

Brooklynne raised an eyebrow at her big sister, wondering what had happened to the “shut up and look pretty” plan.

“I cannot believe I’m actually meeting you in person. You are cute as a button.”

“Well, thank you, Holly! And you’re like a cool breeze on a hot summer day.”

“Quit,” Sookie giggled. She was definitely playing some kind of character because Brooklynne didn’t recognize her sister at all.

“And you are?” Sarah asked, turning her attention to Brooklynne.

She was about to reply but Sookie couldn’t stop talking.

“That’s my baby sister, Mackenzie. She’s got ADD, you won’t be hearing her talk much. And this is Rufus Dobson, my fiancé. I love saying that word. In fact, sometimes I love it so much, I don’t even wanna get married just so I can keep on calling him it. But we’re going to. Getting married, that is. Which is why we’re looking for a church.”

Brooklynne tried not to smile. Sookie was like one of those voices who would go on and on down a trail of thoughts not going anywhere. If Holly were real, she’d give headaches to most people.

“Well, excellent. And I’m pleased to meet you, Mackenzie. I’m sorry to hear about your troubles but I’m sure God is looking after you, may his holy light shine upon you.”

It took everything she had in her for Brooklynne to not roll her eyes and smile politely instead.

“And it’s a pleasure to meet you, Rufus.”

“It’s an honor,” Hugo said.

“The honor’s mine,” Sarah smiled. “Now, how about you all follow me in, and we’ll see if Steve is available. I’m sure he’d just love to meet you both.”

“For real? Reverend Newlin himself?” Sookie faked enthusiasm, which made it hard for Brooklynne not to laugh. “Oh, that would be just super.”

“Well, come on!”

Sarah led them inside the church, which was of a very modern design, to Brooklynne’s surprise. It was made of wood and glass, but she figured the openness was meant to let the sunlight in. There were windows everywhere, which would stop any vampire from coming in during the day. If Godric was here, he’d probably be somewhere in the basement, because he wouldn’t have survived in this church.

They found Steve in his office, where he was waiting for them. He was looking out the windows, standing near a Bible, his hands behind his back. He turned around as soon as he heard them come in. He was wearing a black suit, and the same stupid smile than his wife.

“Well, hello there,” he said with a curious enthusiasm.

Sarah introduced them before they sat at the desk. She was standing behind her husband, who was sitting in his chair, facing the fake couple. Brooklynne tried to listen in on them but she didn’t find anything useful.

_“I wonder how long this is going to last. I hope Steve won’t do anything stupid.”_

_“Well, look at them, they might just be sisters indeed, they look so much like each other._

Brooklynne didn’t want to leave the door open too long, she was afraid she’d get lost in their thoughts. So, she listened to the (real) voices instead.

“Well, the funny thing is, Rufus and I actually met in church. But we both left, like, a month later when we realized that our pastor was… a little iffy.”

“He was a homosexual,” Steve guessed.

_“Bastard.”_ Sookie thought so loud, even Brooke, with her walls up, heard her.

“We don’t know that. He might have been, but what became all too clear was that… he was a sympathizer.”

Steve and Sarah sighed and shook their heads at the same time. “See, that really ticks me off,” the reverend said. “I mean how can you claim to be a God-loving person and then love something that God detests?”

“It’s upsetting,” Sookie said with fake outrage.

“It is. It is upsetting,” Hugo agreed, taking Sookie’s hand in his, “but that’s why my fiancée and I are here. We wanna make this our new home.”

“We are thrilled that you’ve chosen us,” Sarah told him with a voice so high it couldn’t have possibly been an honest answer.

_“Wonder how that platform’s coming. I can’t wait to bring that vampire up from the basement and watch the sun do him the justice that 2000 years of living couldn’t.”_

_“You heard that?” _Brooklynne silently asked her sister.

_“Godric’s in the basement.”_

“It’ll be amazing to finally be amongst like-minded people,” Sookie said. “I don’t care what anyone says about vampires being able to control themselves. I know better. I know that every single one of them is a vicious, bloodthirsty killer.”

_“She is a good liar, I’ll give her that.”_ Brooklynne heard, but Sookie didn’t. _“That’s stupid fangbanger cunt really thinks I’m that stupid.”_

_“Shame on that girl for bringing her little sister into this,”_ Sarah thought. _“She’s not even involved with a vampire. Oh, I hope Steve won’t harm her, she looks terrified, the poor thing.”_

Brooklynne swallowed as she understood they had known all along who they were. Whoever was working for them was well informed.

_“Sookie.”_

_“Listening.”_

_“They know. We need to leave. Now.”_

_“Are you sure?”_

_“Yes.”_

“Well,” Sookie cleared her throat, trying to keep calm. “It was so nice to meet you, but we don’t want to bother you any longer.”

“Nonsense!” Steve said as he clapped his hands together. “Let’s give you a tour of the church. That’s why you came here, isn’t it?”

“Yes, we’ll be happy to show you around,” Sarah said.

“Oh, we really don’t want to impose, I’m sure you have more important things to do…”

“I’d love a tour,” Hugo interrupted her, ignoring the look both sisters were giving him. “It is why we came here.”

“It’s decided,” Sarah practically shrieked. “Let’s get started.”

For the rest of the afternoon, the three spies followed the Newlins around, up and down the church, listening to Steve tell his father’s life story, how this church came to be built, how he was planning on continuing his father’s legacy… Brooklynne stopped listening after a while, looking for a way out, trying to find an excuse to make them leave.

They got to the heart of the church at sundown, and the orange light invaded the room, blinding them as they came in. Hugo tried to cut it short by insisting they’d love to get married here, that it was the most beautiful place and that he couldn’t imagine getting married anywhere else. But Steve just wouldn’t let go.

“Have any of you ever been to a lock-in?” he asked suddenly.

“A lock-in?” Sookie repeated, confused as to what it was.

_“Of course she hasn’t. She’s no Christian,”_ Steve thought.

“Oh, yeah, it’s loads of fun,” he said. “Everybody brings their sleeping bags and we eat, and have games, Bible readings…”

_“Come on, Steve. Don’t bring the girls into this. They’re probably so scared. They don’t wanna be doing this. Those vampires made them do it.”_

_“They say they can hear me. I wonder if those fang-loving freakazoids can hear me right now. They sure don’t look normal,” _he thought, with a big smile on his face.

Sookie swallowed. “That lock-in does sound like fun. Rufus, we gotta go get our sleeping bags.”

“There’ll be plenty of time to get ready. The lock-in is not until tomorrow night,” Steve told them.

“You wanted to see me?” a big and tall bald man wearing a Fellowship of the Sun sweatshirt asked as he showed up behind Steve.

“Oh, good. Holly, Mackenzie, Rufus, I’d like you to meet an aide of mine. This is Gabe.”

“Pleased to meet you,” the man said with a smile that was supposed the be friendly, but there was nothing friendly about this man, the sisters just knew it.

_“Nice, very nice. She’s got just the perfect amount of titties showing,” _Gabe thought as he looked at Brooklynne.

Sookie wondered if her sister had heard him and by the look on her face, she probably did.

“Gabe here is gonna be joining us for the rest of the tour.”

_“This isn’t a good idea, come on Steve, let them go,”_ Sarah thought, her smile vanished from her face.

“Now, I’d like to take y’all to see a very special part of the church,” Steve said. “Come on.”

Brooklynne and Sookie looked at each other, knowing it was a bad idea, but also knowing they didn’t have another option. They followed them back to the hall and turned left, towards a narrow hallway.

“My father’s tomb is on the lower level.”

“Honey, are you sure?” Sarah asked, her nervousness and doubt obvious in her trembling voice.

“Absolutely, darling!”

“Steve, I just don’t see why we need to take them down there.”

“You can literally feel the presence of his spirit,” the reverend said as he stopped in front of the basement door.

“It’s okay, we don’t need to see it,” Sookie told him.

“It’s the rock our church was built on,” Steve insisted. “Much like St. Peter’s tomb in the Catholic Church only without being polluted by evil. Did you know there was actually a vampire pope back in the Middle Ages?” he said as he rolled his eyes at such a heresy.

He turned around to open the locked door. A set of stairs leading to the basement was waiting for them behind it. A gasp escape Sookie’s lips, Brooke’s heart tightened inside her chest.

“Rufus,” Sookie called for help.

“What’s the matter?” Steve asked.

“It’s no big deal,” the fake fiancé said. “She just has a tiny little case of claustrophobia. We both do, actually,” he added, and by the look on his face, it might just be true, at least for him.

“Well, at least take a quick little look. That way, you can say you saw the whole church, and you’ll be making an informed decision.”

“Steve!”

“It’s all right, Sarah. This is something they need to see.”

“But we’ve already decided that we’re getting married here, so how about we go back to our apartment, look at a calendar and we’ll call you to set a date.”

Steve smile, then nodded before his smile disappeared. “No. Gabe!”

Everything happened very fast. Steve seized Sookie who shouted for him to get off her, Gabriel pushed Hugo and Brooklynne towards the stairs. The youngest telepath called for him to stop, which he did.

“Let us go!” she ordered Steve, which he would have done if it weren’t for Gabriel who then punched her in the face, causing both her and Sarah to scream, though the latter more out of surprise than pain. Brooklynne didn’t hear her sister call for her as she fell down the stairs.

“Steve!”

“Brooklynne!” Sookie shouted as she rushed down the stairs towards her sister.

Brooke wasn’t unconscious but she was getting there. Everything was blurry and she could barely hear anything but a ringing in her ears. She had hit her head hard and by the pain in her left leg, she thought it might be broken.

“Get rope and tape,” Steve ordered Gabriel. “We can’t let that cunt speak again.”

“Steve!” Sarah gasped as she heard him swear.

Brooklynne swore she could have heard Sarah Newlin apologize before everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> You can find chapter 8 to 10 on my Patreon page: patreon.com/alonelydreamer for early and instant access!
> 
> Any support is immensely appreciated but if you can't that's alright! Chapter 8 will be posted next week!
> 
> Have a good week!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: sexual assault

Brooklynne was lying unconscious on the ground of the basement of the church, in the wired cage where Sookie, Hugo and herself had been locked in for a couple of hours. Her hands were tied painfully behind her back and a piece of tape was covering her mouth. Hugo and Sookie also had their hands tied but they were free to talk and shout for help like they had been doing for the last two hours. When they understood no one was coming to help them, not even Bill to Sookie’s concern, Sookie started to call for Godric whom she knew was somewhere in the basement with them. She kept an eye on her little sister, making sure she was breathing every five minutes or so. Hugo’s claustrophobia made Sookie stay away from his thoughts, not wanting to get anywhere near them.

When Brooklynne woke up, she was confused and in a lot of pain. Sookie tried to reassure her, apologizing for not being able to remove the tape, which made it hard for Brooke to breathe. Her fear caused her heart to beat faster, and she wished she were able to breathe through her mouth.

“Breathe in, breathe out, slowly,” Sookie instructed her. “When Bill gets here, he’ll give you his blood and heal your leg, everything’s gonna be okay, I promise.”

But Bill never came. They waited all night long, Brooklynne falling asleep and waking up over and over again because of her leg pain. Around 10 in the morning, Steve and Gabriel came down to talk to them. They looked pretty proud of themselves.

“She needs a hospital!” Sookie told them. “Her leg might be broken, and she might have a concussion!”

“I will admit, things got a little out of hand last night, and I apologize for that. I’m not the monster that the vampire-loving media makes me out to be.”

“You’re right. You’re worse. She could die!”

“But that is your fault, not mine,” he said. “After all, you dragged her into this. You’re the one loving a vampire, aren’t you? She’s just an innocent girl following her big sister around.”

“Screw you, you hateful…”

“Ah,” Steve interrupted her, raising a finger. “Now, now, there’s no need for that. All I want from you is a couple of answers. And then, I’ll be more than happy to feed you breakfast and send you on your way.”

“What do you wanna know?” Hugo asked.

“Shut up!” Sookie breathed out.

“Sookie, we need to get out of here. Tell them what they wanna know?”

_“I want to get out of here, this wasn’t supposed to happen, just tell them what they wanna know, I want out. Out!”_

“Her name is Sookie Stackhouse, her sister is Brooklynne Stackhouse, and I’m Hugo Ayers.”

“Hugo, no!”

“We were sent here by the vampires of Area 9 to find their sheriff.”

“Sookie Stackhouse,” Steve repeated in a whisper, looking pale like he had just seen a ghost. “From Bon Temps?”

“How do you know where I’m from?”

“You’re Jason Stackhouse’s…” he paused, then swallowed, anger filling his veins, “sister. Am I right?”

“How do you know Jason? He’s got nothing to do with this!”

Steve took a deep breath, trying to stay calm, but failing. _“The bastard, the traitor, the Judas!”_

“Come on, Gabe,” Steve said before they left.

“Nice work!” Sookie reprimanded Hugo.

“Hey, we sat here all night waiting for your boyfriend to show up. You can go on and play damsel in distress all you want, but I’m getting us out of here. Think of you sister. She needs a hospital, now!”

“Don’t you think I know that?”

_“Barry!” _Sookie called, making her sister frown. _“Barry, can you hear me? You’ve gotta help me. I need you to go to the hotel and find Bill Compton and tell him I’m at the Fellowship of the Sun church in the basement. The sheriff is here somewhere and I’m in big trouble. Please, don’t ignore me, this is a life-or-death situation. Please!”_

_“Do you think he can hear you?”_

_“I think he’s our only shot.”_

Hugo was getting worse. He kept pacing around, shouting for them to come back.

“Hey! Hey, I need to use the bathroom! Hey! Come on, let me out of here!”

“Hugo, this is not helping. Just, sit down. Try and rela-“

She stopped when his thoughts invaded hers. Images of him praying with Sarah and Steve, of him spying on Isabel at the summit, of him telling Sookie’s plan to Steve over the phone. She gasped.

“You? You’re the traitor!”

He didn’t even try to deny it. He looked relieved he didn’t have to hide it anymore.

“Yeah. It’s me.”

“But… why?” Sookie couldn’t understand it. Isabel loved him, and from what she had previously heard, he seemed to love her too.

“I used to be just like you. Thought I was a real emancipated thinker. Especially when Isabel took me to bed. And the sex was… amazing,” he chuckled. “The best I ever… well, you know. It’s addictive, isn’t it? To be desired by something that powerful…”

“I’m no addict.”

“No,” he shrugged, “I guess you wouldn’t know how your life changes to suit them. You start missing work, can’t get up in the morning, can’t stand to leave them after dark… Before you know it, you’re somebody you don’t even recognize.”

“So you went to the Fellowship because you can’t control yourself?”

“I begged her to turn me. It was the only way we could be together as equals. But see, they don’t want us to be equals. No, she’s just been using me. The same way that Bill’s been using you.”

“You don’t know Bill,” Sookie snarled.

“I know he and his friends are having you do their dirty work. And you even let them drag your sister into it! A telepath’s gotta be a real trophy for a vampire, but two? That Eric vampire really seemed interested in Brooklynne, I saw the way he looked at her, even Isabel said so.”

Sookie gave a look to her sister, who, despite the pain and the fatigue, tried to stay awake.

“Eric’s gonna end up making her his, and she’s gonna end up like us. Thinking he cares, but he doesn’t. He just wants to use her.”

“Shut up!”

“All they care about is their own kind. Okay? That’s why I joined the Fellowship.”

“So if the Newlins care so much about you how come you’re still in here?” she asked, and he had no answer for her. “Face it, Hugo. You’re nothing but a fangbanging traitor to them.”

“Gabe?” Hugo called. “Gabe, she knows everything. You can let me out know!” But no one came. “Hey, come on, let me out!”

“Yep, you’re so all-fired important to them, aren’t you?”

Hugo didn’t reply, he stared at the door, waiting for someone to come in. But no one showed up.

They spent the rest of the day in there, with no food, no water, no one else coming to ask questions. The lights on the ceiling were shining hot, or maybe it was just the pain that made Brooklynne sweat, but right now she felt like she was frying under the sun.

Gabriel eventually came in, around 8, according to Hugo’s watch. He looked furious, and he was alone, still wearing that stupid blue sweatshirt with a sun on it. His lip was cut like someone had just punched him in the face.

“Gabe,” Hugo said, relieved, thinking he’d come to free him. “What happened to your face?”

Gabriel didn’t reply and approached the cage with a set of keys in his hand.

“Listen, she knows everything. Which never would’ve happened if you hadn’t kept me here with two mind readers.”

Gabriel opened the door in silence.

“Yeah, I hope the reverend knows that I’m gonna need protection now.”

Gabriel stepped inside, seized Hugo by the shirt and punched him in the face, making him fall over, Sookie gasp and Brooklynne wince.

“You want protection, you fangbanging sack of shit?” Gabriel said before he kicked him in the stomach.

Sookie said nothing as she positioned herself in front of her sister, shielding her from whatever Gabriel had came in here to do.

“How’s that for protection, huh?” Gabriel asked as he kneeled near Hugo, taking him by his shirt and punching him once, then twice. “Here’s a little more protection for you.”

“Stop it!” Sookie shouted as she launched herself at him.

She tried to kick him, there was nothing else she could do as her hands were tied behind her back. He got up easily, pushing her against the wall. Brooklynne’s muffled screams echoed in the room. Gabriel turned around, putting his hands around Sookie’s neck.

“You and your moron brother think you can make an asshole out of me?” he growled. “That’s what you think, uh?”

“Get your filthy hands off me!” she choked.

“What’s wrong? Your own kind not good enough for you?” he asked. “Lucky your sister didn’t follow in your footsteps,” he said as he threw her on the floor, and she landed near Hugo. “I’m gonna show her what a good decision that was.”

Brooklynne watched with big eyes as he made his way to her. She tried to push herself against the wired wall, her foot sliding on the floor, again and again as if she’d eventually move. Her screams were stopped by the tape and didn’t leave her throat. The big man seized her by the shoulders and pushed her down on the floor. She kicked him as hard as she could, with her good leg, but he slapped her once, then twice as she didn’t stop. She kicked and screamed and kicked and screamed but he wouldn’t stop. His hand landed on her shirt, his sweaty knuckles touching her cleavage. He ripped her shirt, both halves hanging on each side of her body. Every time she kicked, he slapped her, but she wouldn’t give up.

“Leave her alone!” Sookie shouted as she recollected herself, but Gabriel ignored her. He easily pushed her away when she tried to get him off her sister.

But Gabriel did get off Brooklynne. It just wasn’t thanks to Sookie. Brooke watched with wild eyes as he was held above her by a kid, a vampire no doubt, given his strength. She breathed heavily as she sat back up against the wires, with difficulty and pain. Gabriel was being choked by his sweatshirt from which he was being held.

“Godric?” Sookie breathed out.

The vampire’s eyes travelled from Sookie to Brooklynne, though they didn’t stay long there, and she was grateful he looked away as she was sitting there, in her bra, unable to conceal herself.

“Godric,” Gabriel pleaded, “it’s me!”

But whether he recognized him or not, Godric didn’t care. Appalled by what the human had done, and was about to do, the vampire broke his neck, letting his lifeless body fall on the ground.

“You should not have come,” was all Godric said.

Screams could be heard from upstairs, and Sookie and Brooklynne knew another vampire was present.

“Bill!” Sookie said, happy at the possibility that he was finally coming for her.

“No,” Godric shook his head. “I’m here my child. Down here.”

_“Eric.”_ Brooklynne thought.

_“Eric?” _Sookie asked silently. _“Godric’s Eric’s maker?”_

The blond vampire appeared suddenly in the basement, instantly falling on his knees to his maker’s feet.

“You’re a fool for sending humans after me.”

“I had no other choice. These savages, they… they seek to destroy you.”

“I’m aware of what they have planned. This one betrayed you,” he said as he pointed at Hugo who was still unconscious behind him.

“He’s with the Fellowship,” Sookie explained. “They set a trap for us.”

A cry of pain escaped Brooklynne which drove Eric’s attention. Maybe he hadn’t seen her before, or maybe he was too focused on his maker to notice anyone else was there.

“This one needs medical attention,” Godric said.

Eric stood on his feet, his eyes moving from Brooke’s body to Gabriel’s, who was lying at his feet. He frowned, a trace of rage appearing then disappearing from his face. Brooklynne, who was still scared out of her mind, tried to move away as he approached. He removed his black leather jacket which he used to cover her. He then removed the tape from her mouth. She took a deep breath as soon as she could.

“Her leg is broken,” Sookie told him.

“My blood will heal you,” he said as a way to ask her permission.

She looked at him with fear in her eyes, pain on her face. She was panting and confused. All she wanted was to go home.

“Please,” is all she managed to say. She looked terrible, as pale as he was, and as tired as ever.

He bit his wrist and positioned himself behind her, feeding her his blood with one hand, while he removed the rope with another. She took a shaky breath as he removed his wrist from her mouth. She brought her fingers to her sore wrists, one, then the other, before she wiped the tears away from her cheeks, and brought her hands to her chest, to Eric’s jacket.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she moved her legs and felt no pain whatsoever.

She quickly slid her arms in the sleeves of the jacket and concealed herself in the cold black leather. She was still trembling, despite Eric’s blood. The physical pain might have gone, but it didn’t make her forget what she had just been through.

An alarm went off as the lights started to flicker.

“Save the humans,” Godric ordered Eric.

Brooklynne gasped as she felt Eric’s hands move under her thighs. He scooped her up in his arms and she was too weak to even fight the idea of him carrying her around. She rested her head against his chest, closing her eyes, enjoying the coldness of his body.

Eric stopped before Godric, waiting for him to follow him.

“Go on.”

“I am not leaving your side until you…”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Come on, we have to go,” Sookie insisted.

“Spill no blood on your way out,” Godric ordered, which obviously went against Eric’s initial plans.

He sighed before he left the basement with Sookie and Brooklynne.

“What took you so long to find us?” Sookie asked as they walked up the stairs. “Where’s Bill?”

“We didn’t know where you were. A human named Barry told Bill he had a message from you, I don’t know where your boyfriend is. He hasn’t come out of his room since you left.”

“Brothers and sisters, we are on lockdown,” Steve’s voice came out of the speakers. “Women with children, please, take them to our classroom buildings. Men and able-bodied women, security will provide you with stakes and silver just outside the chapel. Our Soldiers of the Sun are on their way to protect our church, but safely evacuate the building now. Brothers and sisters, the hour is upon us.”

Eric and Sookie reached the top of the stairs, where they hid behind the wall and watched as Steve’s followers exited through the front door.

“I could have you out in seconds,” Eric said, though he wasn’t about to disobey his maker.

“There’s kids out there!” Sookie protested.

“Well, those humans wouldn’t think twice about hurting us,” he said, which made Brooklynne shiver. He looked down at her, but she was looking away, staring at nothing in particular.

“Why didn’t you tell me Godric was your maker?”

He looked down at the telepath standing beside him, wondering if Brooke had told her or if she had guessed. “Don’t use words you don’t understand.”

“You have a lot of love for him.”

“Don’t use words I don’t understand.”

He looked back towards the hall where the only humans remaining were three “guards” in shorts with silver chains around their neck and a stake in their hands. He gently put Brooklynne down who was reluctant to let him go.

“Trust me,” he whispered in her ear as he saw the confused look she was giving him.

Eric left them and stepped inside the hall, making his way towards the three guards.

“Oh, hey, y’all,” he said with a grin. “How’s it going?”

They didn’t reply as they looked at the stranger walking towards them with confused looks.

“Steve sent me over to man the exit here. I think I can take it from here.”

“By yourself?” one of them asked with concern.

“Yeah.”

“You’re big and all, but there’s a vampire on the loose.”

“Where’s your stake?”

Brooklynne shook her head as she rolled her eyes. She stepped out of the shadows, making all four men look at her. She didn’t give them time to say anything before she helped Eric out of the silly situation he had put himself in.

“Sleep,” she said, and the three humans instantly fell on the ground.

They had kidnapped her, broken her leg, tried to rape her. She was pissed and she wasn’t going to stay behind while Eric was trying to find a way to get them out of here.

“Thank you,” Eric said, impressed, before he opened the front door.

But they weren’t out yet. A group of humans was coming their way. The front door wasn’t going to be their exit.

“Eric, through the sanctuary,” Sookie told him.

She led them through the empty nave.

“Where’s the exit?” Eric asked.

“Back that way.”

“There are several exits, actually,” Steve said as he appeared near the altar. “For you, the easiest one takes you straight to hell.”

“Brooklynne,” Eric asked but she didn’t have time to work her magic because the Soldiers of the Sun were coming through every door, filling the room. There must have been around fifty of them.

“Let us go!” Sookie said. “Save yourselves, no one has to die!”

“The war has begun, you evil whore of Satan,” Steve told her. “You vampires cast the first stone by killing my family. The lines have been drawn. You’re either with us or against us. We are prepared for Armageddon.”

“You’re insane,” Brooklynne told him.

“The vampire you’re holding prisoner got away. He’s a sheriff. He’s bound to send for help.”

“I’m not concerned with Godric,” Steve shrugged. “Any vampire will do for our grand celebration, and we got one right here.”

Sookie and Brooke looked up at Eric who was looking around. There were too many of them, and if he were to leave with both sisters without spilling any blood… he’d end up dead.

Eric, resigned to his fate, took a step forward. Brooklynne instinctively seized his hand, trying to stop him. He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her. She released his hand.

“I’ll be fine,” he told her.

“Brothers and sisters, there will be a holy bonfire at dawn.”

Brooklynne watched as Eric let the reverend silver him to the altar, each chain burning his skin.

_“There’s too many of them. I can’t hypnotize them all.”_

_“What else can we do?”_

_“I don’t know. I could try just stopping Steve.”_

_“They’ll think you’re glamouring him.”_

_“Then what can we do?”_

Sookie didn’t reply. She didn’t have an answer.

“Don’t touch me!” Brooklynne shouted as a man tried to put his hands on her.

Eric growled in pain as he turned his head towards her, despite the silver chains around his neck.

“Get your hands off my sister!”

“Easy brothers,” Steve said. “They can’t go anywhere. You see,” he told them all as he went to stand behind the altar where Eric was immobilized. “A few ounces of silver can betray a child of Satan to the world.”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Sookie shouted. “How can you people listen to him?”

“I…” Eric tried to say. “I offer myself in exchange for Godric’s freedom. And the girls’ as well.”

“That’s noble. But they’re just as culpable as you are. They’re traitors to their race. The human race. They hardly deserve mercy. Maybe I should tie them to you so you can meet the sun together.”

A loud noise came from the hall, as if something heavy had just fallen, or maybe it was the doors banging on the walls. The Soldiers of the Sun gasped as the doors of the sanctuary opened and Bill stepped inside.

“Sookie!”

As Bill started to make his way towards his girlfriend, Steve took a gun out of his jacket and pointed it at her head.

“One move, vampire, and I shoot her.”

“If you shoot her, everyone here will die!”

“Put the gun down you moron,” Brooklynne growled, and he obeyed.

“Stop doing that!” he whined. “You see! She spent so much time with vampires she’s learnt their tricks!”

“Let them go, now!” Bill ordered the reverend.

Steve sighed. “Honestly, what do they see in you two?” he asked the sisters. “Soldiers, some silver chains for our friend, here.”

“Don’t, he’s done nothing to you!”

“Sookie, I will be fine!”

“Newlin!”

Every single person in the nave looked up towards the second floor, where Jason was perched on the balcony. He had a gunshot aimed at Steve and he shot the reverend in the hand, making him drop the gun he was holding.

“Let them go, fuckwad!”

“Ow!” Steve shook his injured hand. But it wasn’t blood dropping on the floor, it was… paint.

Jason shot again and Steve stepped back as he was hit by a bullet of green paint, right in the middle of his forehead. His people gasped as they stepped back, the distraction allowing Bill to get close to Sookie. He took her in his arms, then inspected her for any injury. Jason was stopped by three men who took his guns away.

“Son of a bitch!” Steve groaned in pain.

As the Soldiers scattered, Brooklynne took the opportunity to get to the altar and free Eric of his chains.

“Let’s go,” she told him.

But Eric wasn’t going anywhere. His fangs were already out when he got off the altar, taking Steve by the throat and pushing him down on the stairs.

“Eric! Do not kill him,” Sookie said.

“Kill him!” Jason shouted. “Kill the motherfucker!”

“Go ahead,” Steve said. “Murder me. Murder us before God! We are willing to die!”

Brooklynne didn’t need to read their thoughts, to know these people weren’t willing to die at all.

Noises from the hall could be heard suddenly and the doors of the sanctuary were opened by a vampire once again. Stan appeared, followed by a few vampires.

“Steve Newlin,” he said as he walked in with a few friends.

In less than half a minute, the church was surrounded by creatures of the night.

“You have pushed us too far,” the vampire continued. “You expect us to sit on our thumbs while you round up your men to come lynch us? We’ll kill you first.”

Steve’s people gathered together, now outnumbered, clenching their stakes and their silver chains.

“Same way we did your father,” the vampire finished with a smirk.

“Oh God, no,” Sookie breathed out.

“Murderer!” Steve choked, trying to get up, but in the impossibility to do so because of Eric’s grip on his throat.

“Destroy them. All of them,” Stan ordered the vampire.

Brooklynne gasped as she saw all the vampires seizing at least one human in supernatural speed. Eric let go of Steve, and made his way towards her, putting her under his protection, making sure no vampire would mistake her for a target.

“We have to go, now!” Bill shouted.

But they didn’t have time to go far, as even before anyone had the chance to get hurt, they were interrupted by a higher power.

“Enough!” Godric called from where he was standing above them, on a wooden beam above the doorway. “You came for me, I assume. Underling?” he asked Stan who growled, then sighed.

“Yes, sheriff,” the vampire in the cowboy hat rolled his eyes.

“These people have not harmed me,” he told them. “You see? We can coexist. Mr. Newlin, I do not wish to create bloodshed where none is called for. Help me set an example. If we leave you in peace, will you do the same?”

“I will not negotiate with subhumans,” he said, kneeling on the ground, untying his tie. “Kill me.”

“No!” a woman from the crowd begged.

“Do it! Jesus will protect me.”

“I’m actually older than your Jesus. I wish I could have known him. But I missed it,” Godric shrugged before he disappeared from where he was standing.

He appeared suddenly behind the reverend, seizing him by the nape. His sudden emergence made Brooklynne and Sookie jump. The two thousand-years-old vampire made Steve stand up on his feet.

“Good people,” he said, “who of you is willing to die for this man’s madness?”

No one replied, of course. Steve watched as his followers stepped away, not just from the vampires, but from him too.

“That’s what I thought,” Godric nodded. “Stand down, everyone.”

Stan’s vampires obeyed, to his dismay.

“People, go home. It’s over now.”

“Oh, thank God, Bill,” Sookie breathed out as she hugged her boyfriend.

“It’s all right. You’re safe now,” Bill whispered.

Eric looked down at Brooklynne who was watching everyone leave. She was still wearing his jacket which she had closed. It was way too big for her. He brought a hand to her face, gently taking her chin between his cold fingers. The sudden gesture made her look up at him in confusion. He could see she was tired, relieved, but still extremely uncomfortable.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She tried to cross her arms over her chest, but the giant jacket made it impossible. She moved away from his gentle touch as she looked down.

“I’m fine,” she whispered. An obvious lie.

“Please, don’t leave me,” Steve started calling after his people.

Godric let him go, and he fell to the floor.

“I daresay my faith in humankind is stronger than yours.”

Newlin didn’t reply, he just watched the last of his people leave him behind.

“Come,” Godric instructed his progeny.

Eric gave another look to Brooklynne, who didn’t look back. She tried to walk down the stairs of the altar but tripped on the second step, the heel of her shoe breaking under her. She was sure she’d hit the floor hard, but Eric caught her right on time.

“Alright,” he sighed as he scooped her into his arms once again.

She was too weak and too exhausted to blush at the situation. She just rested her head against his chest as she closed her eyes, hoping for a little peace.

“Sir,” Stan said as Godric approached him. “After what these humans have done to you?”

“I said come,” was all Godric said to him before he walked out.

“Sookie, Brooke.”

An out of breath Jason appeared, relieved his sisters were alright. He gave Sookie a long hug as he sighed.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Will you please forgive me?”

“What were you doing with those people? You out of your mind?”

“Yeah, I was,” he nodded. “Just… that son of a bitch sucked out my brain and planted all his own babies in there,” he said, gesturing towards Steve who was trying to get up from the floor.

“You know nothing,” Steve told him. “On the final day of reckoning, we’ll see who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.”

Jason laughed as he approached the reverend. “I reckon I’ve already been to heaven. It was inside your wife,” he said, enjoying the look on Steve’s face before he punched him.

Sookie gasped. Bill took it upon himself to separate the two of them.

“I’m fine,” he said. “I’m fine.” He then made his way to Eric to whom he gestured to give him his sister. “I’ve got her.”

“I’m fine,” Eric told him.

“Give me my sister, vampire,” Jason said in a threatening tone, amusing Eric.

“Jason!” Sookie reprimanded her brother.

Brooklynne moved away from the vampire’s chest, stretching her arms towards her brother who happily welcomed her into his arms.

“What happened to her?”

“That Gabe guy,” Sookie said and she could tell her brother knew him well, “he tried to… well…”

“Son of a bitch,” he growled. “Where is the motherfucker? I’m gonna kill him!”

“He’s already dead,” Eric informed him.

“Oh,” Jason nodded. “Good. D’you kill him?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“Godric saved her,” Sookie said.

“That’s good. That’s good,” he nodded. “Let’s go.”

They all walked out of the church, leaving Reverend Newlin alone with his thoughts, and his hate.

***

It was loud and surprisingly warm in Godric’s house where a party had started. Brooklynne was standing near the fireplace in the middle of the room, looking right into the flames, hearing everything that was being said to Godric, who was sitting in his chair, facing a line of people waiting to welcome him back. Jason, for some reason, was one of them.

“I just wanted to say I’m real sorry for what the Fellowship put you through. And I wanted to thank you, for helping my sister.”

Godric stared in silent for a moment, which Jason understood as a dismissal.

“You helped save many lives today, Mr. Stackhouse,” Godric said as Jason was about to turn around. “Please know you have friends in this area whenever you visit.”

“Thanks, man, but uh… I don’t know if I’ll be wanting to come back any time soon.”

Godric gave him what could have been an attempt at a smile before Jason practically ran out of there. He turned around and walked away and almost ran into Eric who was leaning against the brick wall of the fireplace. Brooke watched as the two exchanged words.

“Hail the conquering hero,” Eric said sarcastically, but sarcasm wasn’t a language Jason Stackhouse understood.

“Oh, no,” he chuckled. “I’m no hero.”

“No, you are in this town,” Eric insisted. “But in my area we know you well as a buyer and user of vampire blood,” he said and all colors drained from Jason’s face, “and that’s a very grave offense.”

“Yeah, listen, I don’t do that no more.”

“All things considered, however… we’ll call it even.”

Jason smiled, relieved, and nodded, ready to get the hell out of there, but Eric stopped him.

“But you won’t be doing it again,” the vampire continued, leaning forward.

“Yeah,” Jason nodded.

“No,” Eric shook his head and Jason imitated him.

“No, got it.”

“Good boy. Run along,” he let him go and Jason couldn’t have left faster. Eric smiled, amused by the eldest Stackhouse.

“Thank you,” Brooklynne said from where she was standing a few feet away. A human wouldn’t have heard her in the loud room, but Eric was no human. “My brother’s an idiot, but he means well.”

Eric made his way to her, noticing her red cheeks, probably because of the heat coming from the fire.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better, thanks to you. I feel… odd.”

“Vampire blood will do that to you.”

“Sookie said your blood was stronger because you’re older. Is that true?”

“It is,” he nodded. “But you’ll be fine.”

“I know,” she said, looking back into the fire.

“Have you eaten anything?”

“I’m not hungry,” she told him, not moving her eyes away from the fire.

“Come on, you’re going to ruin my jacket if you keep standing in this heat,” he said as he pulled her away.

He took her to the opposite end of the house, a kitchen, as white as the rest of the other rooms. The isle was big, separating the room in two. Eric opened the fridge and Brooklynne was surprised to see regular food among the bottles of Tru Blood.

“Godric has food in his kitchen?”

“As sheriff he needs to accommodate other vampires and that includes their humans.”

“Do you have regular food in your house?”

“I don’t have a house,” he said, taking a box out of the fridge and giving it to Brooklynne.

As soon as she took it, he put his hands on her waist and made her sit on the counter with supernatural speed, the sudden movement making her gasp.

“Don’t do that,” she complained.

“Eat.”

She opened the box to find small pieces of carrots inside. She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Carrots?”

“I don’t know what humans eat.”

“Yes, you do.”

“Do I?”

“You watch TV,” she shrugged. “And you used to be human too,” she said as she brought a piece of carrot to her mouth.

“A thousand years ago.”

“I still think you know more about humans than you say you do. You just want people to think you don’t care.”

“I _don’t _care.”

“That’s probably why you’re making me eat carrots right now.”

He sighed, stepping back and leaned against the fridge, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I hear they’re good for your eyesight,” he said, making her laugh.

It felt good to laugh, after the two horrible days she had just spent. She needed to laugh, to relax. She needed food, she needed a shower, she needed a bed.

“Now that your blood is in me… Can you know where I am at all times?”

“I can feel you,” he nodded. “If you’re scared, I’ll know where to find you.”

“Does that… does that make me yours?”

“Not unless you want to.”

Did she want to? Sookie would kill her.

The sudden silent coming from the other room invaded the kitchen and made them curious. They returned to Godric and found a crying Isabel standing above Hugo. His face was badly bruised from Gabriel’s beating earlier that night. He was kneeling at Godric’s feet, waiting for his judgement.

“He’s the one who betrayed us,” the vampire said.

“Hugo. He is your human, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Do you love him?”

A tear of blood fell down her cheek as she sniffed. “I thought I did,” she cried.

“It appears you love him still,” Godric said, surprisingly unbothered and calm.

“I do. I’m sorry. But you are my sheriff. Do with him as you please.”

“You are free to go,” Godric said, surprising the entire room.

“What?” Stan growled from where he was standing near the fireplace, behind Isabel.

“The human is free to go,” Godric repeated firmly. “And do not return,” he told Hugo. “I fear it is not safe for you here,” he continued, his eyes falling on Stan.

“This is a travesty,” the cowboy said.

“This is my verdict,” he told him. “Eric,” the vampire called on his progeny who took a step forward. “Escort them out. Make sure he leaves unharmed.”

“Yes, Godric,” he nodded, before he made his way towards the stunned human who could barely believe he was getting out of that house alive.

“Thank you. Thank you, sheriff,” Isabel said with a bow.

Brooklynne watched them leave and saw Jason step out of the house with Bill. She frowned, joining her sister in the other half of the room.

“What is that about?”

“No idea,” her sister shook her head. “What are you doing with Eric?”

“Talking,” she shrugged.

“You know what will happen now that you’ve had his blood, right? You’ll think about him more than usual, dream about him…”

“I know. You told me. So did he.”

“Just be careful, okay. Bill thinks he wants you to be his.”

“Yes, he’s asked a few times.”

“What?” Sookie breathed out. “You didn’t say yes, did you?”

“No…”

“Brooke, he kidnapped and tortured Lafayette for three weeks! He’s not safe to be around!”

“He also saved our lives today.”

“Because his maker made him do it.”

“He’s nice to me, okay?”

“Of course he’s nice to you, he wants you! But that doesn’t mean he’s a nice person!”

“Hello there,” a woman dressed in a long bright red dress, too fancy for this party, interrupted them. “I’m Lorena.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Sookie,” she smiled at her.

“Mmh,” Lorena nodded. “Yes. You are what all the fuss is about.”

“Excuse me?”

“Aren’t you a morsel?”

“I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“Well, we have a mutual friend.”

“Bill?”

“That’s right. Funny he never mentioned me. I practically made him what he is today.”

“Lorena!” Bill called as he appeared in the room, hurrying towards the two sisters and his maker.

“Oh, hello, darling,” she smiled at him. “I was just getting to know your plaything. You always did like to prey on the innocent. The little sister is more to my taste, though,” she grinned and Brooklynne took a step back at the look she was giving her, making her grin grow bigger. Brooklynne’s back met with Eric’s chest, and she looked up at him as he put his hands on her shoulders. Lorena ignored the Viking, just like he stayed silent. He was curious to see what was going to happen next, he just wanted to make sure Brooklynne wouldn’t get caught in the middle of it.

“Bill, is this your maker?” Sookie asked.

“She released me years ago. She no longer has any hold over me.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” she breathed out a laugh. “We had two marvelous nights in your hotel room.”

“What?”

“Did you know your boyfriend hit me over the head with a 52-inch plasma television earlier tonight?” she asked, bringing a hand to the back of her head. “Everyone says they’re so thin and light, but let me tell you when wielded properly, it’s quite a weapon.”

“You did?” Sookie asked Bill.

“Lorena, you need to leave,” Bill told his maker.

Every single person in the room, human or vampire, was watching in silence as the three of them argued.

“I hope he doesn’t pull the same shenanigans with you. There’s no excuse for domestic violence.”

“What she has failed to mention is that she was holding me prisoner.”

“We were just catching up is all. You must have been worried sick, wondering where he was. I admit it got a bit… heated. But you know how old lovers can get sometimes,” she said, bringing a hand to Bill’s face.

Sookie stopped her, taking the vampire’s wrist in her hand. “Do not touch him,” she snarled.

Brooklynne saw Stan chuckle from where he was standing a few feet from them.

“My, we’re feisty too,” she told Sookie who released her wrist. Lorena started laughing. “Aw. You’re no more than a blood bag. You cannot win this.”

“I’ve already won. Bill chose me and yet you still won’t give up. Don’t you have any shame?”

“Sookie, stop,” Bill begged, knowing this wouldn’t end well for her.

“I’d listen to him. Run away, little girl. William and I love each other.”

_“She’s insane,”_ Brooke told her sister silently. Sookie scoffed.

“You’ve gone mad,” Bill told Lorena as he seized her by the arms, pushing her away. “Get out, now!”

“Maybe you do love him,” Sookie decided it to push it for some reason. “Who am I to guess? But he doesn’t love you. He never has, and that we both know.”

Bill was trying to keep Sookie away from Lorena. The vampire let her fangs out with a growl.

“Take those words back or they shall be your last.”

“We’re leaving,” Bill said as he put his arms around Sookie, trying to take her away.

“Go find someone else, you fucking bitch!”

“Sookie!” Brooke breathed out but Eric tightened his grip on her shoulders, not hard enough to hurt her, but enough to make her understand that this wasn’t her fight.

“You’ve lost this one!” Sookie spat at Lorena.

The vampire pushed Bill away from Sookie, sending him flying to the other end of the room, before she took the telepath by the top of her dress and pushed her down on the counter near them. Brooke knew Eric was about to intervene because he let go of her shoulders, but someone else got there first.

Godric stopped Lorena who was about to bite Sookie, stopping Eric and Jason from intervening. He grabbed the vampire by the throat and moved her away from the telepath.

“Retract your fangs,” he ordered and she silently obeyed. “I neither know nor care who you are, but in this area, and certainly in this nest, I am the authority. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sheriff,” she said, and he let go of her.

“This human has proven herself to be a courageous and loyal friend to our kind. And yet you treat her like a child does a dragonfly, pulling off wings for sport. No wonder they hate us.”

“She provoked me.”

“And you provoke me. You disrupted the peace in my own home. I could snap you like a twig. Yet I haven’t. Now, why is that?”

“It’s your choice.”

“Indeed it is. You’re an old vampire, I can tell. You’ve had hundreds of years to better yourself, yet you haven’t. You are still a savage, and I fear for all of us, humans and vampires, if this behavior persists,” he said, not so much for her but for the entirety of the room. “You,” he told Bill. “You seem to know her.”

“Yes, sheriff,” Bill said, clearly unhappy by it.

“Escort her from the nest,” he instructed him. “I wish you out of my area before dawn,” he told Lorena who slowly made her way towards the exit, followed by Bill.

“Thank you,” Sookie told Godric who nodded before he returned to his chair without another word.

“You know what,” Brooke told Eric, “I get what you meant when you said you couldn’t have asked for a better maker.”

The vampire chuckled.

“Who the fuck was that?” Jason asked as he joined them.

“Bill’s maker,” Sookie answered.

“His what?”

“Bon Temps’s your area, right?” Sookie asked Eric. “If she comes to attack me, you could stop her?”

“She’d be smart not to,” the vampire nodded.

“What the fuck?” Jason breathed out.

“What?” Sookie asked.

“That’s Luke. From the Fellowship,” he said, as he pointed towards a man whom they recognized from the church. “What is he doing here?” he asked as he left his sisters to go to him.

He was wearing a big black coat, which was odd considering it was warm outside.

“Stay away from me Stackhouse.”

“What the hell you doing?”

“Just go,” he pushed him away. He opened his mouth, then closed it. Once, twice. Then finally spoke up. “Excuse me, everyone. If I could have your attention,” he called, and everyone appeared in the room, Godric, Isabel, Stan… “My name is Luke McDonald. I’m a member of the Fellowship of the Sun. And I have a message for you all, from Reverend Steve Newlin.”

He opened his coat, showing the chains of silver he had around his chest, wooden bullets attached to it, and a black box, ticking, with a red light flickering. A bomb.

Brooklynne and Sookie gasped as they saw what was under Luke’s coat. Half a second later, Luke blew himself up in a deafening and blinding explosion. Brooklynne felt herself fall though the movement started before she heard the explosion. Her back hit the ground violently and something heavy fell on her as a wave of heat passed over her. Her ears were ringing but she could still hear the screams and the cries. It took her a moment to realize what had just happened and to recognize that it wasn’t an object that had fallen on her, but a person.

“Eric,” she whispered.

He groaned in pain, unable to move. She did her best to move away from him, but he was too heavy. His head was resting on her shoulder and his hair caressed her cheek.

“Eric,” she whispered again. He was too heavy, she couldn’t breathe.

“Sookie, Sookie!” she heard Bill call.

“I’m here,” her sister replied from the other room.

Godric appeared and crouched down near Brooke, gently turning Eric on his back, freeing the telepath.

“I covered your sister,” he told her. “Both your siblings are fine.”

“Thank you,” she said in a whisper.

“He has pieces of wood and silver in his back, will you take care of him?” he asked. “I need to tend to my people.”

She nodded. “Of course.”

She tried to sit up, but felt dizzy, the ringing noise still in her ears. She kneeled as she faced the vampire immobilized on the ground. She gently turned him over, apologizing as he growled in pain. She removed the silver and wood from his back, some of the wounds closing up as soon as the foreign objects were gone, but not all.

“Thank you,” he growled as he sat up with difficulty.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You’re not healing.”

“I need blood,” he said, locking his eyes with hers, silently asking.

She hesitated. But he did just save her life, how could she refuse? Besides, she did want to help him. He gave her his blood, why couldn’t she give him hers?

She brushed her hair away from her shoulder, giving him access to her neck.

“Are you sure?” he asked, which surprised her.

“You just saved my life.”

He nodded before he let out his fangs. She swallowed as she saw them. He cupped her right cheek in his left hand, bringing her closer to him. His right hand moved across her back and rested on the right side of her waist. She felt his cold breath on her neck and his fangs graze her vein before she felt them pierce through her skin. A small cry escaped her. It wasn’t as painful as she’d imagined. She barely felt the blood leave her body, but she felt his cold lips slightly moving on her skin and his tongue licking around the two bleeding puncture wounds. She didn’t realize she had placed a hand on his arm as she waited for him to let her go.

He drank for a minute, it seemed like an eternity. He slowly released her, carefully removing his fangs from her vein, stroking her cheek with his thumb, once, then twice, before he moved away completely. She brought a hand to her bleeding neck as he licked his lips.

“Thank you,” he said before he bit his wrist. “Drink, it’ll heal you.”

“Are you sure?” she frowned. It seemed counterproductive.

“Yes,” he nodded as he brought his wrist to her mouth.

She felt her wound close as his blood fell down her throat. She didn’t need much and didn’t want to take more than she required. She pushed his wrist away as she felt the pain completely vanishing from her neck.

“Thank you.”

He stood up, and she took the hand he was holding out to her before he helped her get back on her feet. They both looked around, taking in the damage the explosion had done. Godric’s living room was completely destroyed. A few vampires had died, given the puddles of blood around the burned room. A few humans too. Isabel and Godric were helping the survivors recover, helped by Bill, Sookie and Jason.

“I can’t believe they’d do that…”

“Really? I’m not surprised at all.”

“Eric,” Godric said as he appeared before them. “Please, bring your human back to the hotel.”

“She’s not mine,” Eric corrected his maker.

“Apologies,” he told Brooklynne. “Please, bring back Mr. Compton and his human too. The brother as well.”

“What about you?”

“I need to sort things out here. Isabel will help me. The sun will be up in less than an hour. Please, rest, and we will talk tonight.”

“I can help…”

“Yes… Please, help her and her siblings. I’m sure they need to rest as much as we do.”

Eric nodded. “I will see you tonight.”

“You will,” Godric assured him before he walked away.

“Come on,” Eric told Brooklynne. “Let’s find you sister.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> You can find chapter 9 to 11 on my Patreon page: patreon.com/alonelydreamer for early and instant access!
> 
> Any support is immensely appreciated but if you can't that's alright! Chapter 9 will be posted next week!
> 
> Have a good week!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance for the terrible smut ahead. I hope you can still enjoy it.

The sky was a light blue and dawn wasn’t far away as they drove back to the hotel in silence. Sookie and Brooklynne couldn’t wait to get back and lay down on their bed. They had just spent the most horrible couple of days, and they were impatient to be done and go home.

Eric booked a room for Jason, and Sookie was too tired to even think of asking him to get one for himself. The vampire let Brooklynne take a shower first and she collapsed on the bed as soon as she was out, but when he got out of the bathroom, she still wasn’t sleeping.

“I thought you’d be tired,” he said as he sat on his side of the bed.

“I’m exhausted.”

“What’s keeping you up?”

“All of it… Being stuck in that cage for two days… the explosion… I still can’t believe that man hated vampires so much he was ready to die if it meant taking at least one of you with him.”

“Hate is a powerful weapon.”

“And Steve Newlin won’t even be blamed for it.”

“I doubt it.”

She sighed. She turned around to face him, looking up at him from where her head was resting on the red silk pillow. “Thank you for saving my life.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You could have died.”

“It certainly was a possibility.”

“Then why did you do it?” _If you don’t care, like you keep saying,_ she thought.

“I don’t know,” he said, being surprisingly honest with her.

“Godric is a good man.”

“Godric isn’t a man.”

“You may be vampires but you’re still men.”

“You’re exhausted, you don’t know what you’re saying,” he said, and she laughed.

“I know what I’m saying. And I mean it.”

“Then you’re a fool, Brooklynne Stackhouse.”

“Well, that’s not nice.”

“Sleep,” he told her. “We’ll have a lot to answer for tonight.”

“What do you mean?” she frowned.

“What happened last night will be all over the news. Which means we’ve attracted the unwanted attention of the AVL.”

“The American Vampire League…”

“Yes. They’re a pain in the ass, but they work for the Authority. They have power.”

“What’s the Authority?”

“A story for another time. Sleep.”

She sighed again. She was exhausted and she did want to sleep, but she was afraid of what she’d see once she closed her eyes.

“Sleep well, Eric.”

He looked down at her, lying beside him, with her eyes closed.

“Sleep well,” he said, but she had already fallen asleep.

***

Eric had been right, which didn’t surprise Brooklynne at all. The AVL was there, and the meeting was set at midnight. Bill, Sookie and Brooklynne were expected to attend as they had a few questions to answer. Eric was in a foul mood. He knew they were going to try and blame Godric, and he didn’t want to hear it. Nan Flanagan, the official AVL spokesperson, had come all the way to Dallas and booked the biggest suite of the hotel which, according to Eric, only meant they were seriously pissed and that heads would roll.

But Eric wasn’t the only one who had been right. Sookie hadn’t lied about the effect Eric’s blood would have on Brooklynne. She was indeed thinking about him more, and even though she was glad she hadn’t had any dreams about him yet, especially since he was sleeping right next to her, she could feel the attraction, and she could hardly keep her eyes off him. She woke up late in the afternoon and had escaped her room and joined her brother in his, hoping to avoid the vampire. But now, they were going to be in the same room for the rest of the night, and she couldn’t stop looking at him.

Nan was already waiting for them in the living room when they entered. She was sitting on a white faux leather footstool, near the two couches of the same fashion. Godric and Isabel had arrived first and were seated on the couch on her right. Bill, Sookie and Brooklynne were facing them, seated on the couch on Nan’s left. Eric had chosen a footstool near Brooklynne, facing both his maker, and the spokesperson. He didn’t look happy. Neither did she.

“Do you have any idea of the PR mess you’ve made?” she told them. “And who has to fucking clean that shit up? Me. Not you. Me. I should drain every one of you bastards.”

“Stan went after the church on his own,” Eric said. “None of us knew anything about it.”

“Oh really? Because everyone who’s met Stan in the last 300 years knew that he had a kink about slaughtering humans. But you, his nest mates, his sheriff, had no clue.”

Stan had been an (un)fortunate casualty of Luke’s suicide bombing, so now, the AVL needed a scapegoat and Eric would be damned if he let the AVL put the blame on his maker.

“And how were we supposed to know that this time he meant it?” Isabel asked.

“Not my problem. Yours,” she said as her eyes fell on Godric.

“Don’t talk to him that way,” Eric threatened her.

“Don’t talk to _me_ that way,” she calmly warned him. “Let’s get to the point. How’d they manage to abduct you?”

“They would have taken one of us sooner or later,” Godric answered. “I offered myself.”

The information was news to Eric, who not only didn’t like it, but it also made him confused and scared for his maker.

“Why?” Nan asked, obviously surprised and confused herself.

“Why not?”

“They wanted you to meet the sun and you were willing?” she raised an eyebrow, looking at him like he was stupid, or insane, or both.

“What do you think?”

“I think you’re out of your mind.”

Eric thought the same. He didn’t look angry anymore, it was as if he had just understood something, something terrible, something he didn’t want to believe, something that made him sad. It took Brooklynne everything she had in her not to take his hand. She knew he wouldn’t like it, not now, not in the company of Nan or her bodyguards. It would be seen as weakness and he wouldn’t have it.

“And then I hear about a traitor?” Nan asked.

“Irrelevant. Only a rumor,” Godric told her. I’ll take full responsibility.”

“You bet you will.”

“You cold bitch,” Eric snarled.

“Listen. This is a national vampire disaster. And nobody at the top has any sympathy for any of you,” she explained to him before she returned her attention to Godric. “Sheriff, you fucked up. You’re fired.”

“I agree,” he nodded, “of course. Isabel should take over. She had no part in my disgrace.”

“Godric,” she said, stunned and confused. “Fight back.”

“What are you saying?” Eric asked, as stunned and confused as Isabel was. “She’s a bureaucrat. You don’t have to take shit from her!”

“You wanna lose your area, Viking?”

“Oh, you don’t have that kind of power.”

“Hey, I’m on TV. Try me,” she shrugged with a smile.

“I’m to blame. I should have contained Stan the second Godric went missing.”

“Isabel,” he stopped her. “I remove myself from all positions of authority.”

Eric breathed out. He didn’t recognize his maker. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out of it, too baffled to find the words.

“Works for me,” Nan said. “Come to my suite and fill out the forms.”

“Soon,” he nodded. “First, I have something to say,” he paused for a moment. “I’m sorry. I apologize for all the harm I’ve caused, for all our lost ones, human and vampire. I will make amends. I swear it.”

Nan grimaced. “Take it easy, it’s just a few signatures,” she said as she got up, tapping his shoulder twice before she left the room, followed by her people.

Godric got up as well but he was stopped by his progeny who blocked his way to the door.

“No,” he said. He knew, he understood, even though he didn’t really. He saw the pain, he saw the problem, but he didn’t like the solution his maker had chosen.

“Look in my heart.”

“You have to listen to me.”

“There’s nothing to say.”

“There is.”

Godric sighed. “On the roof,” he said before he walked out.

Brooklynne didn’t recognize the look on Eric’s face. She never thought she’d ever get to see him like this. He looked confused and destroyed. He felt helpless, and so did she, as she had no idea how to fix it.

“Eric,” she whispered as she took a step forward, then took his hand. She didn’t know what else to say, but she wanted to be there, even though he probably didn’t need her.

He slightly squeezed her hand, acknowledging her presence without looking back at her, but then let it go and turned around, following his maker’s footsteps.

“It’s going to be dawn in a little while,” Sookie said.

“I know.”

“I’m gonna find Godric.”

“Sookie, this has nothing to do with us. You’ve done enough for Dallas,” Bill told her.

“I’ll go,” Brooklynne said.

“What can you do?” Bill asked, trying to stop her.

“I’ll just… be there.”

She gave a look to her sister, who knew she couldn’t stop her, but also didn’t want to. No one deserved to die alone, and Eric couldn’t be up there when Godric met the sun, so someone else had to.

She found them on the roof. They were arguing, and she felt uncomfortable, she didn’t want to interrupt them, so she stayed behind, at the top of the stairs, waiting for the right time.

The sky was becoming brighter as the sun was about to rise and Eric tried, he gave everything he had, to make his maker change his mind.

“Two thousand years is enough.”

“I can’t accept this. It’s insanity!”

“Our existence is insanity. We don’t belong here.”

“But we are here!”

“It’s not right. We’re not right.”

“You taught me there is no right and wrong. Only survival or death.”

“I told a lie, as it turns out.”

“I will keep you alive by force!”

“Even if you could, why would you be so cruel?”

Eric swallowed, desperation coming to replace his anger. “**Godric don’t do it**,” he begged in Swedish.

“**There are centuries of faith and love between us**.”

Eric started crying, tears of blood filling his eyes, a lump forming in his throat.

“**Please, please**,” he sobbed between two breaths as he fell to his knees. “**Please, Godric**.”

“**Father. Brother. Son**,” he continued. “Let me go,” he said, in English this time.

Eric tried to compose himself, taking a deep breath as he straightened up, but avoided his maker’s eyes, tears of blood making their way down his cheeks.

“I won’t let you die alone.”

“Yes, you will,” Godric said, and more tears of blood found their way on Eric’s face.

Godric put a hand on his progeny’s head and stroke his hair once, then twice, before resting it on his nape. Eric rose to finally look up at him.

“As your maker,” he said. “I command you.”

Eric stood up, like he was ordered. His maker gave him a small smile, which Eric tried to return, before he turned around and found Brooklynne standing there, at the top of the stairs. She gave him a sad look as he approached her. Eric turned to take one last look at his maker and Brooklynne took his hand, encouraging him to go back inside, as the sun was rising in the horizon.

“I’ll stay with him,” she told him. “As long as it takes.”

He nodded, avoiding her gaze, before he walked away, leaving her alone with his maker.

“It won’t take long,” Godric said as she approached him. “Not at my age.” He turned around to face her, he too had tears of blood in his eyes. “Do you believe in God?”

“I don’t. But Sookie does. My Gran did.”

“If they’re right… how do you think He’ll punish me?”

“Well… my Gran would say that God doesn’t punish. God forgives.”

“I don’t deserve it.”

“Yes, you do.”

He laughed quietly. “You don’t know me.”

“I know enough.”

He gave her a small smile. “You’ll care for him?”

She frowned, confused for a second, but then nodded. “I… I’ll try. I don’t think he’ll want anyone to care for him. You know how he is.”

“I can take the blame for that too,” Godric smiled.

“Maybe not. Eric’s pretty much… Eric.”

Godric nodded. He then turned around, to face the rising sun. Brooklynne’s heart tightened inside her chest and she tried to swallow the lump appearing in her throat.

“Aren’t you scared?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I… I’m full of joy,” he breathed out a laugh as if he were surprised.

“But… the sun… the pain…”

“I want to burn,” he assured her.

“Well,” she sniffed, “I’m scared for you.”

“A human with me at the end,” he smiled, and she wiped her wet cheeks, “and human tears… Two thousand years, and I can still be surprised. In this I see God.”

His skin was starting to burn and as the sun rose higher and brighter, he gestured for her to step back. He turned around, fully facing the light, unbuttoning his white shirt which he let fall on the ground.

“Goodbye Godric,” Brooklynne said as a tear fell down her cheek, and he opened his arms to embrace the sun.

His body turned into blue flames which consumed him so fast she didn’t even have time to gasp as he disappeared silently before her eyes.

***

The blue skirt of Brooklynne’s dress caressed her thighs as she walked through the hotel’s hallways. She tried to dry her tears before she reached her room. She didn’t know what to expect once she opened the door. Would Eric even be inside? It was daytime, so he had to be in the hotel. She hoped he wasn’t doing anything stupid.

She slowly opened the door of her room and found Eric sitting on her side of the bed, looking down at his feet. He didn’t acknowledge her as she stepped inside. She saw the trails of blood on his cheeks, the tears falling onto his chest, staining his white shirt. She silently made her way to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Godric is gone,” he said.

“Yes. I’m so sorry,” she replied as she slid a hand in his hair.

She couldn’t say she knew how he felt, because she had no idea what losing a maker felt like, or what it felt like to lose someone you’ve known for a thousand years, but she knew loss. She knew how it felt to lose a parent. She had lost three. There was nothing she could say that could make it better, that would make his grief go away. He had to go through it to accept it.

“Did he suffer?” he asked as he took the hand she had in his hair.

“No.”

He sniffed as he nodded. “Thank you. For staying with him.”

“Of course.”

She moved her hand from his shoulder to his face, cupping his cheek. She’d have wiped his tears away if she could, but all it would do was spread the blood on his face, making it worse. She didn’t know if it was because of his blood that was now part of her, or if she’d have done the same even without it, but she wanted to be close to him, to take care of him. She wondered if he’d let her.

“Come on,” she said as she took a step back and gently pulled him off the bed.

He frowned but allowed her to drag him to the bathroom. She took him to the sink, where she picked up a cloth. She opened the tap and wetted it with warm water, though she doubted he’d be bothered by anything cold. She turned towards him, wanting to clean the blood from his chest and face, but stopped when she realized he was too tall and that it would be more complicated than she had first thought. Understanding the problem, Eric put his hands on her waist, and made her sit on the counter with supernatural speed. She gasped, surprised by the unexpected movement.

“I told you not to do that,” she told him, and she thought she saw a smile on his face for a second.

She took a look at his chest and took the bloody top of his shirt between a finger and a thumb, tucking it down slightly to give her access to the blood that had dried on his skin. But she didn’t have to bother for long as he removed his shirt completely. She looked up at him for a quick moment before she started cleaning the blood off the top of his torso. He let her work in silence, and she could feel his eyes on her, never leaving her face. She tried to ignore it, tried not to blush too hard, but when she reached his face, it became harder to ignore his intense gaze.

Never in a million years would she have imagined being in this kind of situation, especially not with Eric. She’d always thought she’d be alone her entire life and being this close to someone had seemed like an impossibility just a week before. She never really thought about it either. Never gave too much thought about her future, or about anything. She never had the clarity of mind to do so. But now that she did, she didn’t know what to do. What was normal? What was expected of her? She’d always been different, did she really want that to change? She didn’t care about being ‘abnormal’, she just wanted to be free. Free of the voices, free of the house. Free to make her own choices. For once. And maybe Sookie wouldn’t like it, but she didn’t care. She’d make her own choices, she’d live her life, at last.

She left the bloody cloth in the sink after she was done. She placed her hands on each side of his clean face and stroked his cheeks with her thumbs. He didn’t look bothered. She could see his pain in his eyes. His eyes that were looking right at her, exploring her, like he was seeing her for the first time, getting to know her, maybe looking for something, something familiar, something that he needed. He looked like he found what he was looking for.

“Thank you,” he said as he leaned into her touch.

“What do you need?”

He raised an eyebrow, surprised, though he guessed he shouldn’t really be. She had a good soul, she’d want to help him in any way she could. He considered it for a moment. Could he ask that of her? Knowing she’d probably say yes because she wouldn’t say no to anything right now. Could he take what he wanted from her now, something he’d wanted ever since he had first met her, ever since she sat on his lap the first time, smiling back at him like he wasn’t the most dangerous person she’d ever met. She was careless, or at least she used to be, before he helped her cast the voices away, before he helped her find her own, find some lucidity in her life. But even after she found peace and quiet, she’d stayed with him, she hadn’t backed away like her sister had probably told her to. She was here, worried about him, wanting to help him, even after she’d found out about Lafayette. If he were a good person, he’d probably let her go. He wouldn’t be selfish, and he would stay as far away from her as possible. But right now, now that Godric was gone, it was he who had lost clarity. Even though he doubted that if he weren’t in pain at this moment, he’d probably still be doing what he was about to do.

“Are you ready to give me what I need?” he asked as he leaned forward, his hands moving from the counter to her waist as his eyes slowly fell on her neck.

A shaky breath escaped her. “Would it make you feel better?” she asked in a whisper.

“It’ll help.”

His answer was low but clear. She slowly brought a hand to her shoulder, brushing the hair away before she tilted her head, giving him access to her neck. He moved slowly, his nose sliding up her skin before his cold lips found her vein. She closed her eyes, waiting for the pain to come, but it never did. He moved up slightly, his cold breath reaching her ear.

“That’s not what I meant,” he murmured.

She frowned and found his eyes as he moved away from her neck, his face still inches from hers. Her mouth opened when she understood what he was saying, but no sound came out of it as she was rendered speechless. She was barely breathing, he wasn’t at all. He trapped her chin in his fingers, his eyes falling on her lips. She closed her mouth quickly and tried to swallow her nervousness away. She drew a shaky breath as he brushed his nose against hers. She waited for him without realizing it. Time had stopped and seconds turned to hours as he still wasn’t moving. She didn’t know what to do, her thoughts were colliding together in her mind, making it impossible for her to make a decision. Eventually, she moved, instinctively maybe, or because she was getting impatient, because she wanted it, needed it, but she raised her head, so slightly maybe it wasn’t even anything, but he saw it. He saw it for what it was or for what he wanted it to be: permission.

His lips found hers quickly, urgently, a bit roughly. She reacted immediately, kissing him back. He pulled her to him and her chest crashed into his, his hand resting on her lower back. Her hands left the counter to find a place on his bare chest. His fingers slid in her hair, holding her head in place as he kissed her. She didn’t know what she was doing, but he did. He slightly opened his mouth, his tongue licking her lips, pushing for access, access that she granted. She let his tongue wander on her lips, in her mouth, let him play with her own. A moan escaped her as she felt his hand move from her back to her hip, down to her thigh. He pushed the skirt away, his fingers travelling on her skin, going high, higher than she should let him.

His long and cold fingers reached the top of her thigh, his thumb stroking her skin once, before his caresses moved up. But they didn’t take the direction that she feared. His fingers returned to her waist, his thumb going up, not stopping until he reached her bra. Her breasts were surprisingly heavy for someone her size. He didn’t bother to take it off, he went over it, sliding his thumb inside the cup, making her gasp and break the kiss. But he didn’t stop. He captured her lips again as he found the pink and hard button he was looking for. Bothered by all the layers covering her, he didn’t play with it for long before he removed his hand from under her dress, surprised she had let him go so far.

He broke the kiss as both his hands found her lower back and he pulled her to him, fast and hard, taking her by surprise. She didn’t even feel him lift her. One second she was sitting on the counter, and the next she was back in the bedroom, lying on the bed. He was kneeling before her, his imposing figure towering above her. His right knee brushed against her left leg as it went up, and up, opening her legs. The skirt of her dress curled up, concealing her underwear. She felt her cheeks turn red as his eyes travelled, oh so slowly, from her bare legs to her eyes. She swallowed as he locked his gaze with hers. He leaned forward, his right hand coming to rest on the soft mattress near her head. His face approached hers unhurriedly and she tried hard not to look away. She closed her eyes, however, when she felt his fingers on her thigh once more.

“Are you ready to give me what I need?” he repeated, whispering in her ear.

Her heart had never beaten faster, she felt like it was about to leave her chest. Giving him her blood was one thing but giving him her body was another. At that moment, she wished she knew what he was thinking. Or maybe, it was better that she didn’t. She wasn’t ready for this. She hadn’t expected this. Nor did she expect to want it, and yet, despite the fear, despite the unknown, she did. She wanted to know what it would feel like to be with him. She wanted to do what it would feel like to be cared for by him.

“Yes,” she replied, so low only he could have heard her.

She had barely said the word that his lips were on hers once again. His right hand fisted the bedsheet as his left moved up her thigh. He pulled on the dress once, to warn her about what he was about to do, which she didn’t understand at all. He tore the blue dress apart, leaving her in her pink underwear. She gasped as she felt the fabric leave her body. Her right breast was already coming out of its cup thanks to Eric’s earlier exploration. His lips left hers, stopping on her chin, then on her throat, then on her upper chest before they found her cleavage. She shivered as his cold fingers slid beneath her and reached the clasp of her bra. He threw it away across the room. She immediately had the reflex to cover herself, but he stopped her, gently grabbing her wrists. He looked up at her, but when she looked away, he put her arms up above her head, pressing her wrists against the mattress. She couldn’t move when all she wanted was to cover herself.

“Don’t,” he said as she tried to free her hands.

She begged him with her eyes, a faint sob escaping her throat. He pressed a gentle kiss on her lips before he returned his attention to her breast. She looked up at the ceiling as his nose slid down her cleavage. He lowered her arms that he kept pinned against the mattress. His lips kissed her right breast, his tongue licked her nipple before he trapped it in his mouth. A shaky breath escaped her as he played with one of the most intimate parts of herself. He eventually let go of her arms but only so he could play with her left nipple. He caressed it with his thumb, over and over again, and he could feel it harden under his touch. She moaned, suddenly finding pleasure as she relaxed under him.

His right hand abandoned her left nipple and slid down her body, finding the waistband of her underwear. She instantly put a hand over his, but it didn’t stop him. He slid a finger under it, and her gasp didn’t make him stop either. He released her nipple and kissed his way back up to her face as he slid another finger under her panties. She drew a long breath as his fingers found the most intimate part of her body.

“You’re already wet for me,” he said as he looked down. Heat invaded her face and even more so when he looked back up at her. “Up,” he instructed her, and she gave him a confused look, which he found more arousing than perhaps it should have.

He tugged at her underwear to make her understand. She silently obeyed, lifting herself up slightly to allow him to remove her damp panties.

“Good girl,” he smirked, and even though she thought it wouldn’t be humanly possible for her to blush even more, she did.

His fingers returned to her wet lips and she closed her eyes at his cold touch.

“Breathe,” he told her, and she realized she was holding her breath. “Make me stop,” he said, and even though it sounded like a challenge, she knew what he meant. They could stop this at any moment, any second, if she wanted to.

She watched as he left the bed and knelt on the floor. He put a kiss on her right leg, then another, kissing his way up her inner thigh, eventually reaching the hot mess between her legs. She looked up at the ceiling, unable to meet his gaze, as she covered her face with her hands. She whimpered as his tongue licked her lips. He slowly licked up his way to the one thing he wanted right now, the button that would have her crumble completely. He pulled her closer to him, her legs resting on his shoulders. His mouth closed on her, making her moan. He licked the button, that bundle of nerves, played with it, slowly at first, then faster, and faster, and faster, faster than any human could have done. She didn’t know what to do with herself as pleasure built up inside her, taking over her muscles, her thoughts, her entire mind. She couldn’t think, unintelligible words coming out of her mouth. His name maybe was the only thing they could both understand.

She shattered completely on the bed after a few minutes. His hands keeping her trembling body still as he wouldn’t let go, as he carried her through her first orgasm. She was panting when he finally let go, kissing the inside of her thigh before he stood up. He watched as her body kept twitching, as she tried to catch her breath. When she realized he was seeing her wholly, completely, she moved up a leg, trying to conceal herself, as if he hadn’t seen all of her yet. She propped herself up on her elbows, looking back at him, waiting in confusion. His hands reached his pants, and she watched as he unbuttoned his jeans. He took everything off, exposing himself to her like she was exposed to him. Her eyes grew big as she saw his length, a shaky breath escaping her lips as she moved back a little as she looked up at him.

“Make me stop,” he repeated, offering her a way out.

She swallowed, her throat feeling dry, considering it. But she shook her head as she whispered: “I don’t wanna stop.”

“Good,” he said as he knelt on the bed, making his way back to her.

He kissed her, roughly, his lips crashing on hers. She let him push her back onto the mattress as she kissed him back, sliding her fingers into his hair. His own fingers found their way back to her wet folds and she gasped as this time, he wasn’t going to stop there. He slid a finger slowly into her, the unfamiliar touch made her feel uncomfortable. At first. But as he kissed her, as he pushed his finger in and out, she became more and more aroused and eager. She moved her hips to meet his movement, and he slid a second finger into her. The pressure only lasted a few seconds before pleasure found her. She knew what he was doing, she’d read enough books to know that she needed to be ready for a man of his size. But the books hadn’t been nearly indicative of how it all felt. She felt dazed, drowning in pleasure but also in uncertainty and nervousness. She was light-headed, her core burning at the idea of giving him what he wanted while he was giving her what she needed. That need that he had put inside of her, that his touch had created. He was a thief, stealing everything from her, her breath, her clarity, herself. Everything she was and everything she had was his. She was at his mercy as his fingers entered her, made her moan, made her forget everything else but his lips on her neck and his hands on her body.

She groaned as he slid a third finger, perhaps too early, inside of her. The pressure lasted longer as his long fingers opened her up, made her ready for what was to come. What she had promised him, what she could take away at any time if she wanted. He had given her so much power, he too was at her mercy as she could stop it all before it even started. But she wouldn’t be so cruel. She wanted to give him everything, just so he could feel a little better, even if it only lasted a second.

As she was getting lost in the building pleasure, he suddenly moved, making them lay on their side. He removed his fingers, resting his hand on her bottom. She put a hand over his but didn’t remove it. He kissed her, slowly this time, more gently than before.

“Make me stop,” he repeated as he put a kiss on her shoulder.

But she didn’t stop him. Not even when she felt him against her thigh. He was cold, she should have known, but hadn’t expected it.

Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. She should have thought of it before, way earlier, but suddenly, she wondered if he knew. The way he was touching her, the way he was doing everything told her that he did, but she wondered, maybe he was being gentle because she was human, or because of that other reason. Maybe, he didn’t know.

“Wait,” she stopped him, putting a hand on his chest. “I…”

“What?”

She avoided his gaze, feeling embarrassed for not having told him before.

“I… I’m…”

“I know,” he said, and the revelation made her look up at him. “It’s okay. It won’t hurt, not for long,” he told her, and she nodded. “Do you want to stop?”

“No,” she shook her head.

He resumed what he had started, moving his hand from her bottom to her thigh, lifting it, slightly, but enough, to allow him to find her entrance. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder as she felt the tip of his length reached her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the pain to come.

“Hey,” he whispered so gently it didn’t sound like him. He removed her arm from his neck then cupped her cheek in his hand.

He leaned forward to kiss her, gently, slowly, for a minute, and then another one. To make her forget about the situation they were in below. When she was relaxed, he slowly pushed himself inside of her, making her gasp, then wince as she felt the uncomfortable pressure. He withdrew himself slowly, then entered her once again. He did it a few times until the pressure was gone, until she forgot about it. He went a little further every time, getting her used to his size, but he quickly reached the wall, and she felt it as he did. He never stopped kissing her, not even when she cried out when they became one. He never stopped, never slowed down, his movement only becoming faster as she relaxed in his arms.

She was a moaning mess and every little sound she made filled him with desire. He was so big and so deep inside of her. He could feel her reaching her limit, her early orgasm was to be expected. She cried out his name as she felt it too and his thrust never ceased, not even when she crumbled into his arms. He carried her through the orgasm as it travelled through her like lightning, down her spine to her legs, to her toes. She moaned loudly as she trembled, bliss taking over her quickly, as she felt like she was going to pass out. But the feeling never went away as his hips kept meeting hers, faster and faster. She heard him groan now, though he’d been doing that for a while, she was just now registering her surroundings once again.

He moved suddenly so that she was lying on her back and he was on top of her. He moved her legs up which she locked around his waist like he wanted. She felt him slowing down and even though his pace was becoming too much for her, she knew he wouldn’t find his pleasure if he held back.

“Eric,” she said but it was difficult to find the words. “Don’t… slow down.”

He slowed down, however, misunderstanding her words. He put a kiss on her shoulder before he found her face. She brought a weak hand to his cheek before she tried again.

“Don’t slow down,” she told him, and he tilted his head, silently asking her if she knew what she was asking for. “I want… to give you what you need.”

He raised an eyebrow, and she saw uncertainty in his eyes. “You have no idea what you’re asking for.”

She shook her head. “I want to give you what you need.”

“You’ve given enough,” he said, straightening up so he was towering over her before he thrusted into her, hard and unexpectedly.

She gasped and moaned at the sudden movement. Despite what he knew was best for her he couldn’t deny there was something deep within him that wanted to take the opportunity to fuck her hard and fast and leave her a sobbing mess until she passed out on his cock. Everything about her was confusing, he wanted to protect her, but he also wanted to destroy her, in the best of ways. She was so innocent and pure and right now his and only his. No man had ever been there before and the idea of another man touching her, making her his, enraged him. He thrusted into her again, harder this time. He was claiming her, and he wanted her forever, another companion for the next thousand years, someone who would never leave him like Godric just did. Someone who would be with him for him, like Godric had found him and chosen him to be his companion. Pam wasn’t it. He loved Pam and he’d spent the rest of forever with her, but she was no Brooklynne Stackhouse. There was something there, a light only a human could have, a light he knew she wouldn’t lose even in the darkness because it was part of her.

He wanted her.

But did she want him?

He leaned forward again and rested his forehead against hers. She took his face in her hands, confused by his sudden silence, waiting for him to move, to say something.

“Be mine.”

It took her by surprise. He didn’t move as he waited for her to answer.

“Give me what I need. Be mine,” he repeated, and it sounded like a plea. He was vulnerable now like he had been on the roof. He had lost someone he loved deeply and now he needed someone to fill that gap. Brooklynne knew she could never fill that gap, but she could be something else, something new, something he needed.

He waited patiently for her to either break his heart or save him. There wasn’t much left of his heart, he kept it hidden, but she’d seen glimpses of it before and she’d seen a lot of it tonight. She was just what his heart needed right now after it had been left vulnerable by Godric’s departure.

She didn’t know what to say. Hadn’t she already given him everything? She was lying under him, at this moment, he was buried deep within her. She had told him her secrets, given him her first kiss, her first everything. What more could she do? Wasn’t she already his?

The next words that came out of her mouth woke something in him. Something raw, something untamed. His lips mashed against her, demanding something, anything, everything. He seized her wrists and pinned them against the mattress above her head. She didn’t think he’d react that way, she didn’t know what she expected to happen, but not this. He was unleashed, free to do with her as he pleased. She was his. His.

He straightened up, towering over her once again, releasing her hands, resuming his thrusts. He was reaching deep inside of her, hard and fast, harder and faster. He growled as he lost himself within her, taking what she offered, what he needed. She moaned and cried out as the world disappeared around her, maybe it hurt or maybe it was just pure bliss, she couldn’t tell. Maybe she passed out, then came back to consciousness just to pass out again. All she knew was his hands on her thighs, his growls and groans in the air. She could only feel him, in and out, in and out, over and over again, so fast she couldn’t even tell the difference anymore. She raised her hands, just to let them fall back on the mattress. She moved her head, right, left, up and down, it didn’t matter, she couldn’t see anything. Time disappeared with her lucidity. Maybe she’d been having one long orgasm that lasted minutes after minutes or maybe she just came over and over again, but it all blended together until he found euphoria between her legs. She cried out as the thrusting stopped. She felt him empty himself inside of her, heard him growl loudly, before he thrusted into her again, once, and twice, making her cry out each time, exhausted and sore.

When he removed himself, she felt like she had just lost a part of her, something that had always been there. He laid down beside her twitching body. She was out of breath, pearls of sweat sliding down her skin. She called his name, missing his touch already, and he brought her to him. She breathed out as she rested her head on his chest, barely aware of where she was. She only knew him and that was enough.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, and she didn’t understand.

“What?” she said, half conscious.

“Did I hurt you?” he reformulated, now more in control of himself, now aware of what he had just done, of what he had been doing for the past hour.

“No.”

“I should have stopped when you passed out the first time.”

“I passed out?”

He caressed her bare shoulder with his fingers, wondering if he should be worried or amused.

“Did I give you what you needed?” she asked, and he nodded.

“Yes.”

He hesitated, wondering if he should let her fall asleep are clean her up. There was blood on the bed, among other substances. But she was already falling asleep.

“Say it again,” he asked while she was still conscious.

“What?”

“Say it again.”

She sighed, tired and content. “I’m yours, Eric.”

“Yes. You are mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Read chapter 10 and 11 on my Patreon at patreon.com/alonelydreamer
> 
> Next chapter will be posted on November 4


	10. Chapter 10

The air was cool and Brooklynne shivered in her sleep. Her body had never left his cold skin as he brought her to his chest and trapped her in his arms before they fell asleep. His large shirt covered her otherwise naked body and her bare legs were tangled with his. The stained sheets were a pile of mess on the floor and Brooklynne was left with very little to warm herself up. Never mind the cold, she never left Eric, and often moved closer to him in her sleep. Her head rested on his chest while her hand had found his shoulder, and she slept there, lying on top of him, his arms wrapped around her like he was afraid she’d change her mind and leave him in the middle of the day.

Incessant knocking bothered Brooklynne in her sleep until it woke her up. She opened her eyes slowly, only aware of the irritating noise for a moment before she felt the hands on her waist and saw the pale skin before her. She remembered then where she was, and more importantly, who she was with. Heat found her cheeks and chased the cold away as she remembered the events of earlier. She slowly looked up to see Eric was still asleep. Of course, he would be. She looked down at herself and saw she was wearing a black tank top that was way too big for her. A timid smile found her lips as she imagined him putting it on her as she had no memory of it. The smile grew bigger as the words he had waited to hear echoed inside her head.

_“I am yours.”_

_“Yes. You are mine.”_

She had never thought that agreeing to be his would be so freeing. Her own decisions had led to this. Her own decisions had made her his, and by making that decision she had claimed herself free. She was free to leave her house, she was free to meet people and make friends, and be his. She was free.

She moved slowly, feeling his hands slide off her as she left him. The knocks wouldn’t stop. The tank top felt heavy as she got off the bed and stood on her feet. She realized then that she wasn’t wearing any underwear and that she couldn’t open the door in this condition. She quickly picked up a pair of underwear from her bag, then grabbed the ugly grey robe from the bathroom. It was too big for her and it swallowed her thin and petite figure until all anyone could see was her head, her ankles and her feet.

She opened the door slightly, still unaware of who had woken her up. She found her sister standing on the other side. She looked impatient and a bit worried. She was wearing a yellow dress and a short white cardigan with white ballerinas. She put her hands on her hips when her sister finally answered her.

“Brooke!” she reprimanded. “Why aren’t you ready?”

“Ready?” Brooklynne, who was still sleepy, repeated.

“To leave? We’re leaving in half an hour. The car is waiting!”

_Oh, right, the car. The car back to Bon Temps._

“Did you forget? Were you sleeping?”

“Yeah, I… I was sleeping, sorry,” she said as she rubbed her eyes.

“Well, hurry up! We’re gonna be late.”

“Oh, that’s… that’s fine. You can just leave without me.”

“Leave without you?” Sookie repeated with a frown. “I’m not leaving without you,” she said like it was the craziest thing she had ever heard.

“I’ll be okay. Eric will bring me back.”

Sookie sighed. “Look. I get that you’re trying to be nice. But Eric will be fine.”

“I know,” _maybe_, “but I want to stay with Eric. And I will see you later tonight.”

That was a strange tone for Brooklynne to use. She wasn’t asking, she was telling her what she was going to do. Something she had never done before. Something she had never had to do.

“I’m not leaving you alone in Dallas with _Eric_,” she said, whispering his name as if saying it louder would summon him.

“Sookie,” she insisted, “I am staying with Eric.”

Sookie opened her mouth, then closed it. She gave a confused look to her sister, but then understood. The messy hair, the tired eyes, the robe… She was staying _with _Eric.

“Oh _no_,” Sookie said, almost scoffed, as she pushed the door open, surprising her sister who tripped as she was trying to step back.

She gasped but didn’t fall. She felt two strong hands seize her and her back met with a cold and hard chest. She knew who it was, but she looked up anyway to see Eric looking as happy as Sookie was.

“You,” she snarled, seeing red as she saw him standing there in his boxers. “I told you to stay away from her!”

Eric raised an eyebrow at the telepath. “You seem to be under the impression that your sister can’t make her own decisions.”

“Because she can’t!”

“Hey!” Brooklynne protested. “We talked about this,” or at least she thought they did, “I’m better now. I can make my own decisions.”

“Obviously not if the first decision you make is _him_.”

“Do _not _talk to her that way,” Eric said with a threatening tone as he took a step forward.

“Excuse you,” Sookie retorted, “she’s _my_ sister. Mind your own business!”

“And she’s _mine_,” he growled. “And you will not talk to her that way.”

Sookie’s eyes grew big and stared at the vampire for a moment, before they moved to her sister, then back to the vampire. Shock was quickly replaced by rage as she raised a hand to slap the tall Viking. Eric could have stopped her, but he didn’t move an inch at the impact and it probably hurt her more than it hurt him.

“I will _not _let you treat her like your personal walking blood bag!”

“She’s as much my ‘personal walking blood bag’ as you are Bill’s.”

“Bill loves me!”

“I’m happy for you,” he replied with a sarcastic tone.

“Sookie, I told you I’ll be fine,” Brooklynne begged her sister to go.

The eldest sister grimaced, highly dissatisfied with the situation, and worried to death for her sister.

“You really want to stay with him?”

“I do, please. Please, just… let me make my own decisions for once…”

Sookie hesitated. It didn’t make her happy to make her own sister unhappy, but she had to admit, Brooklynne wasn’t the best at making decisions. At any time, she could forget where she was and who she was with and Eric wasn’t used to taking care of her and making sure she was focused and present. Besides, she doubted he really cared, though he probably did if he had made her his. She winced at the thought.

She angrily pointed a finger at him. “If you hurt her,” she said, in the scariest, most threatening tone her sister had ever heard her use, “I _will_ kill you.”

“I think it’s time for you to leave,” he replied, irritated by her allegations.

Sookie gave him a dark look which had no effect on him. She then looked at her sister, who could see she was worried, but Sookie knew she wouldn’t leave. She could imagine how she was feeling at that moment, after what had obviously happened. She knew Brooklynne wouldn’t come willingly.

“Fine,” she gave up. “I’ll call you when I’m home,” she told her sister before she walked away.

Eric closed the door behind her in silence. He looked down at Brooklynne and he saw she felt uncomfortable and he wondered if she regretted her decision to stay. He knew she’d be upset about fighting with her sister.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“Why are you sorry?”

“I…” she shook her head as she looked down. “I knew Sookie wouldn’t like it, but I didn’t know she’d be mad at me.”

“She’s not mad at _you_,” he told her as he placed his hands on her waist.

She looked up at him as her hands found his chest. “What did she mean by ‘personal walking blood bag’?”

“Now that you are mine, I get to feed from you whenever I want,” he smirked, and the devilish look in his eyes made her feel small and vulnerable. “Unless you don’t want me to, of course,” he finished, a little bit more seriously.

“But now that I _am_ yours… you can only feed from me, right?”

“If that’s what you want.”

She considered it, but not for long. Did she want him to feed from other people, from other girls? No, not really.

“That’s what I want,” she nodded.

He grinned as he trapped her chin between his fingers and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. He was so gentle it actually surprised her. She kissed him back immediately, opening her mouth to him, searching for his tongue. He undid the belt of her robe and she let it fall to the floor. She tiptoed but not for long as he slid his hands down her thighs and lifted her off her feet. She wrapped her legs around her waist, as he wanted, and her arms around his neck and before she could realize what was happening, she was lying on the bed, her back against the soft mattress and her legs in the red silk sheets.

His lips left hers and made their way down her chin to her neck. She felt his cold breath against her skin and his tongue lick up the blue vein. She flinched when she felt something sharp graze her skin and she drew a breath as she waited for his fangs to penetrate her. But they never did.

His left hand traveled down her body and under the top. His cold fingers found her underwear and she gasped as his thumb slid inside it. He found the sensitive button and started to play with it, his thumb gently caressing it, waiting for her to relax and for pleasure to find her. A moan escaped her, and she felt his lips turn into a smile on her skin. When he judged that her mind was busy enough with what was happening between her legs, he resumed his exploration of her neck, his fangs finding her vein once again. She barely registered the slight pain caused by his bite, her hips meeting with his hand, silently asking him to go faster. She breathed out a long sigh as he obliged.

She eventually crumbled beneath him, gently and for a short moment. She was a little out of breath when he removed his fingers and his mouth from her. Their eyes met and heat found her cheeks once again. He licked his bloody lips before he brought his wrist to his mouth in order to feed her his blood. But she stopped him.

“It’ll heal you.”

“Don’t,” she whispered. “It’s okay,” she said as she brought a hand to her neck.

“Are you sure? Sookie won’t like it.”

“I know.”

He chuckled. He kissed her again before he moved to lay on his back. She found her place on his chest, once more, and he wrapped his arms around her, once again, before he placed a kiss in her hair, a gentle gesture she would have never thought she’d experience from him, but a soft gesture that said a lot.

“You could have gone with her, you know?” he said quietly after a moment of silence.

“I didn’t want to go with her. I wanted to stay with you. Is that okay?”

“Of course,” he whispered. “You’re mine.”

“Yes. I am yours.”

***

It was a strange sensation to be in hot water but in the cold arms of a vampire. One would say it was uncomfortable, but not Brooklynne, who was more than happy to experience new and exciting things, like taking a bath completely naked with her lover. She was leaning against him, her head resting against his chest, as his fingers traveled up and down her arm. His right hand had found her stomach and had never left since. She had placed her hand over his almost immediately and their fingers were now intertwined. She was giggling at whatever stupid jokes he was saying, puns that had once been hilarious, back when puns were the most highly form of humor.

He couldn’t get enough of her. He was devouring her with his eyes, and with his lips. The two puncture wounds on her neck she had insisted on keeping only reminded him that she was his and that made him feel something warm inside of him, something he hadn’t felt in a very long time. He covered her left shoulder and neck with kisses while he listened to her laugh. He would thank any God for having been the first to see her value.

“How did you meet Godric?” she asked suddenly, surprising him.

“He saved my life.”

“How?”

“I was dying. I got injured on the battlefield.”

“You were fighting a war?”

“I was fighting something,” he chuckled. “Godric saw me fight one night, and he saw my value.”

“How come you didn’t stay with him like Pam stayed with you?”

“We stayed together for a very long time. But we all have our lives. He had his area to lead, and I have mine.”

“I can’t imagine how it must be like to spend a thousand years with someone…”

“Maybe one day you’ll know,” he said, placing a kiss on her temple.

She looked up at him with curious eyes, wondering if he meant it. Wondering if she would indeed like to know one day.

“Maybe one day I will.”

***

The room was cool and Brooklynne shivered as she was sitting on the couch in nothing but one of Eric’s shirt. It was a big white shirt that served her as a short dress but did very little to keep her warm. Eric’s cold body didn’t help.

He refused to let her go, as if she would vanish out of thin air if he ever stopped touching her. He had brought her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her and she had let him do it without questions as his lips started another expedition on her skin.

Few words were exchanged and Brooklynne could feel the grief of the vampire that had come back to take over his mind. Even she couldn’t distract him anymore. She saw the pain on his face, in his eyes. He had tried to hide it at first, but with her he didn’t have to pretend. He didn’t want to.

When she asked if he needed more time, he didn’t lie and took the opportunity to extend their time in Dallas. “We could stay for a few more days,” he had said, to which Brooklynne merely nodded.

The telepath had sent a text to her sister to let her know. She didn’t want to call, she knew Sookie would disapprove. And the silence that followed the text confirmed it. Sookie never replied.

Eric eventually took her phone away and turned it off. It wasn’t fun to see her so worried, especially about what her sister could possibly be thinking about them.

“She’ll get over it,” he told her.

The days that followed were surprisingly normal. Brooklynne lived at night and slept with Eric during the day. It didn’t particularly bother her, to live like a vampire, but she knew it would soon become a habit, as she couldn’t imagine going to bed when Eric was awake. She had seen what kind of life Sookie lived with Bill, and even though her sister required a huge amount of coffee to survive on so little sleep, it was an unhealthy way of life, to say the least.

Whatever he had needed that first morning when he first took her to bed, he hadn’t needed since. Every touch, every kiss, every time they went to bed, was so gentle and slow and loving, she barely recognized him. She quickly grew to love that side of him. She knew that behind this scary vampire façade there was this loving man he hid to everyone. Everyone but her. And maybe Pam.

Sookie was wrong, Brooklynne decided. Eric was a good man. A good vampire. A good person.

He fed from her once or twice a night, and every time he insisted on healing her. His blood was addictive. It was a weird sensation, as if reality had gone and they were left in another world, a world where they were alone, and everything was beautiful and more intense. Even Brooke’s blood had an unusual effect on the vampire. But would she ever dare tell him what a fairy had once told her?

Two days had passed and still no word from Sookie. Brooklynne worried for a little while before Eric managed to busy her with something else. She was easily distracted. Or maybe he just knew how to make her feel better.

They weren’t ready to leave. They would have stayed alone in that hotel room for another week, even another month, if it had been possible. But Eric had responsibilities and he had been gone from his area for too long.

“I’ll buy you a house,” he said out of nowhere.

Silence had taken over the plane and as per usual Eric had kept Brooklynne close and covered her with kisses until he started talking all of a sudden.

“A house?” she frowned in confusion.

“Or an apartment,” he said. “A place just for you,” he stopped to place a kiss on her neck, “and me.”

“You can’t buy me a house,” she told him. “It’s too much!”

“What’s too much?” he grinned. “For a vampire.”

“Don’t buy me a house,” she said before she straightened up and moved to straddle him. She slid her hands over his shoulders and onto his nape. “Don’t buy me anything.”

“I make no promises,” he said as his hands found her waist, “but you’ll have enough to buy yourself anything once I pay you for what you did in Dallas.”

“I’m not sure what I’ll do with it. I’ve never had money of my own.”

“Because you were too irresponsible?” he joked.

She shrugged. “I never needed it. Gran always did everything for me.”

“Well, now you can do anything you want. And have anything. You just need to ask.”

“What are you? Santa?”

He laughed. “Just more handsome.”

She chuckled as she shook her head. “Whatever. Don’t buy me a house.”

Little did she know that she would very soon change her mind.


	11. Chapter 11

The house wasn’t a mess. It was completely destroyed. When Brooke first saw it, Sookie was still telling her what had happened. She could barely believe it. A crazy Goddess had done all this? To their house? To Gran’s house? Brooke would have felt furious if the maenad hadn’t been killed by Sam. No. All she felt now, looking at all the dirt, was relief that at least her grandmother wouldn’t have to see it.

She still felt dirty after taking a shower. Her wet body enveloped in a simple towel, she stepped out of the bathroom and inside her bedroom just to be surrounded by dust and dirt. She swore she’d have killed that maenad herself if she had been given the opportunity.

She sighed as she walked towards her dresser and took out a pair of light blue shorts and its matching top. She put the towel on top of the dirty dresser, put on underwear then her pajamas, before she turned around towards her bed where she found unexpected company.

“Eric!” she gasped.

He was sitting there with a smirk on his face, his eyes travelling on her body.

“Nice shorts,” he grinned.

“Don’t you knock?!”

“Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“Of course I am,” she mumbled. “I just didn’t know you’d be here…”

“Don’t be shy,” he told her as he got up to stand before her.

She looked down as he placed his hands on her waist but all he wanted to see was her eyes so he took her chin between his fingers and made her look up at him.

“I told you I’d come.”

“You’re late… and you didn’t come last night… I thought…” she paused.

“What?”

She looked back down at her hands. “I thought you were busy with something else,” she said in a whisper.

“Do you mean _someone_ else?”

She shrugged, still avoiding his eyes. She heard him sigh.

“I was busy last night. I’m sorry, I should have called.”

“Pam said you had business to take care of.”

“Pam also said you didn’t take the money I owe you.”

“I don’t want your money. I was happy to help you. I just… wish I could have helped him too.”

“Godric’s death doesn’t mean you failed at the job I gave you. I put you in danger and the least I could do is pay what is due. Besides… you might need it,” he said as he looked around the bedroom. “Looks like that maenad redecorated while we were gone.”

“Sookie and I don’t even know where to start cleaning…”

“I’ll send people to help you.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t have to do anything,” he told her. “Anyway. Get dressed. We’re leaving.”

“Where are we going?”

“Fangtasia, of course.”

***

Anyone could go through that door at any time. Pam, Chow, Ginger… But there was no stopping him.

Her feet weren’t even touching the ground. Her legs were wrapped around his waist as his hands held her tightly against the wall. She didn’t know what to do with her hands, one of them gripped his hair and the other rested on his shoulder, sometimes it seized his muscular arm. His teeth were buried in her neck while he was buried inside of her. He moved swiftly but gently, or as gentle as _he_ could be, pleasuring her and himself while he feed off her life force. Blood escaped her wound and slid down her skin to stain the top of the dress that had curled up under her breasts.

Her loud moans echoed in his office and made it difficult for him to focus on her heartbeat. As he felt her reach her climax, he let go of her neck as to not distract her from it. She moaned, then gasped, then squealed, every sound bringing him closer to his own end.

Unfortunately, someone ended up going through that door, to his annoyance, and to her horror.

“Oh my God…”

“Sookie!” Brooke yelled, both embarrassed and angry.

“We’re a little busy here, Miss Stackhouse,” Eric said, moving his head so Brooke could hide behind him.

“Sookie… wait… stop…” Pam’s voice could be heard from the hallway.

The vampire appeared behind the telepath and smiled when she saw her maker standing naked in his office, buried deep inside his human.

“I take it Sookie couldn’t be stopped.”

“What can I say? She overpowered me,” she said, amused.

“Off you go, Pam,” Eric ordered her, which, from the look on her face, didn’t amuse her at all.

“Get off my sister,” Sookie tried to order him which made him grin.

“Get out!” Brooke yelled.

“I need to talk to Eric.”

“Well, you can’t!”

“Bill’s been kidnapped, and I think he did it.”

Brooke was losing her patience. Not only did she walk in on them and she didn’t seem to be sorry about it, but now she was also accusing him of hurting her boyfriend, which she found extremely insulting.

“I didn’t, any other theories? If so, do you mind sharing them later? I have something to finish here.”

“I’m still on this one, thank you very much. Where were you tonight around 11 o’clock?”

“Here, with your sister.”

Sookie’s eyes grew big before they moved from the vampire to her sister.

“Doing this?” she breathed out. “For the last six hours?”

“You seem surprised,” Eric smirked. “Is Bill’s stamina not up to snuff?”

“Tell me where I can find Lorena!”

“Get the fuck out, Sookie!” Brooke shouted, becoming more and more uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry. I am duty bound to find him, as sheriff of this area… But I’m rather busy right now, and I think your sister wouldn’t appreciate me… stopping our activity just yet.”

Sookie grimaced. “Well… hurry up,” she said before she turned around and slammed the door behind her.

Eric chuckled. “I like you angry.”

***

“Would it kill you to _not _meddle with _my_ business?” Brooklynne asked her sister as they were walking to Bill’s house in the cold night.

“I didn’t come to meddle with anything,” she defended herself, “Bill was kidnapped last night and nobody cares!”

“He proposed and you didn’t say yes, my guess is he needed some time to get over that.”

Sookie scoffed. “_Your_ guess? _My_ guess is Eric said those exact words and you’re just repeating them.”

“Eric is not wrong.”

“I can’t believe sheriff Dearbone wouldn’t file a missing person’s report. He said Bill wasn’t even a person!”

“Are you surprised? He hates vampires.”

“It’s his job to find missing people!”

“What can Jessica do anyway?”

“The other day, I saw Pam shiver and asked her what was wrong. She said it was Eric calling her. So maybe Jessica can call Bill.”

“Eric is Pam’s maker, Jessica is Bill’s progeny.”

“You think it only works one way?”

“I think _Jessica_ won’t know anything about it.”

“Well… I got no other idea.”

***

“So,” Brooklynne started to say as she was sitting in the back seat of her sister’s car. “How do you _feel _a place?”

“I can’t explain it,” Jessica answered from the passenger seat. “It’s not a good feeling I can tell you that!”

They had been driving for over an hour in the late night and Sookie wasn’t even following any map or any road, but an instinct, and not even her own.

“Are you sure it’s this way?” she asked the vampire.

“No, I don’t know,” Jessica whined. “It’s not like Bill ever explained it to me! He’s never done that before!” she continued. “Calling me,” she scoffed. “It made me feel sick.”

Brooklynne leaned back in her seat and pouted, thinking about how she could have been (and should have been) with Eric at this hour. She would have been doing something way more exciting than this.

“We’re getting close, I think,” Jessica ended up saying after a moment. “I’m feeling nauseous, just like I got last night when Bill was…”

“Stop!” Brooke gasped as she saw the wreckage of a car in the ravine below them.

“That’s Bill’s car!” Sookie said as she stopped her own.

She exited the car faster than Jessica who was stunned her feeling had actually led them somewhere.

“I am a freak of fucking nature!” she complained before she got out of the vehicle.

“There’s a body in here!” Sookie called from below. “But it’s not Bill!”

Brooklynne exited the car and went to stand next to the vampire. “Is he dead?” she asked.

“I don’t know! Give me a hand!”

Jessica rolled her eyes before she hurried towards the car and pulled the body of a man from what was left of it.

“Check him for a wallet or phone or anything that might tell us who this fucker is,” she told Jessica, who obliged, for some reason.

“No wallet… no phone,” Jessica sighed just as Brooklynne joined them.

“What’s that?” the young telepath asked as she pointed at the man’s shoulder, where a weird shaped scar could be seen.

Jessica tucked on the shirt to take a better look at it. “Ew.”

“Okay. What is that?” Sookie asked.

“That looks like a mark, you know, like… done on purpose,” Brooke said.

“I’ll look it up,” Jessica told them as she took out her phone.

They walked back up to the road, for better reception, and after half an hour of going through different runes and pictograms, the immortal ginger finally found what they were looking for.

“What does it say?” Sookie asked.

“Operation Werwolf.”

“Werewolf?”

“Please don’t tell me werewolves are real,” Jessica begged.

“Werewolves are real,” Brooklynne nodded. “And you know who could tell us more about this?” she said, looking up at her sister while crossing her arms over her chest.

Sookie rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat. “Eric.”

***

To their surprise, Fangtasia was already empty when they got there, about five hours before dawn. Brooke found Eric in a foul mood, but he seemed to calm down a little as he sat down at a table, taking her with him, making her sit on his lap, like he liked to do.

“Everything okay?” she whispered as he placed a kiss on her neck, between two puncture wounds. Brooklynne missed her sister’s grimace. Jessica’s too.

“Nothing to be concerned about,” he answered, making her suspicious. It wasn’t a no, but it wasn’t a yes either. “Any news about Bill?” he asked, though the indifference in his tone was obvious.

“Yes, actually,” Sookie replied, not without attitude. “We found his car. There was a dead man inside, with this scar on his shoulder,” she told him as she handed him a drawing of the symbol. “It stands for Operation Werwolf, some kind of secret Nazi commando force from World War II.”

“Nazi werewolves kidnapped Bill,” Jessica chuckled as if it was somehow amusing.

“That dead guy was strong and fast enough to take Bill. He has to be something supernatural. I was hoping you could tell us more.”

“Here’s what I know about werewolves,” he started to say, the anger and frustration in his voice startling Brooklynne, “there’s a reason their existence has remained merely a myth to humans for thousands of years. They’re territorial, vicious, pathologically secretive.”

“Boy, does that sound familiar,” Sookie cut him off.

“And here’s what I know about you: you’re so blinded by your obsession with Bill Compton you’re likely to run through the streets screaming “werewolf bait” alerting whoever has Bill that we’re onto them or getting yourself _and _your sister killed.”

“I’m not the one who’s a danger to Brooklynne.”

“How is this suddenly about me?” the telepath complained. “Eric, do you know this mark or not?”

He sighed. He wouldn’t have told Sookie. But he couldn’t lie to Brooklynne.

“The symbol is runic. This pack of werewolves dates back a lot farther than the Nazi Party.”

“So they aren’t Nazis?” Jessica asked.

“No, they’re much more than that. These are not ordinary werewolves. They’re organized, well-funded, highly trained, and fuel by vampire blood.”

“So… they kidnap vampire to steal their blood?” Brooklynne asked.

“I have no idea. Godric and I went after them during World War II. We never found who their leader was.”

“So… you can’t tell us where to find them…”

“I’m sorry, no. I’m actually surprised to hear they’re here… in Louisiana.”

“But if they were here and they were taking vampires for their blood, more than one vampire would be missing right now,” Brooklynne said.

“Indeed,” Eric nodded. “Whatever they want, it’s not _only_ vampire blood.”

“It’s Bill.”

“I’m sorry I can’t help you,” Eric said. “I know I can’t stop you from going after them, after Bill. But there’s one thing I will not allow. You are not involving Brooklynne. Tonight’s little adventure is as far as she’s going to go, am I being clear?” he asked with a threatening tone.

“What if I want to help?” Brooklynne said, irritated that either of them would think they had the right to make this kind of choice for her. She had been told what to do her entire life. Never again.

“I will not lose you to werewolves,” he growled.

“It’s fine with me,” Sookie shrugged, not appeasing her sister’s anger. “I will not lose you to werewolves either.”

***

“You’re still mad at me.”

Eric said as he closed the door of Brooklynne’s bedroom behind him. The floor creaked underneath him as he made his way to her bed, where she was lying down, turning her back to him.

She had spent the day cleaning the house while Sookie was at work and she wondered if he had felt her frustration while he was sleeping at Fangtasia.

“You actually knocked this time,” she said, not moving from the bed, not bothering to look up at him either.

“Sookie said a werewolf came for her earlier today.”

“Yeah, at work.”

“You didn’t see anything strange? Or anyone come near the house?”

“No,” she sighed in annoyance. She was waiting for an apology and she doubted he’d ever give that to her.

He didn’t say anything more as he sat on the bed then moved to come and lie with her, sliding his hand on her stomach, which she pushed away.

“Don’t be mad.”

“I get to be mad.”

He sighed. “I just want you to be safe.”

“And I want people to stop telling me what to do!” she replied, finally turning around to face him. He could see she wasn’t happy at all, though her words left no doubt about it.

“Fine,” he capitulated with a sigh. “I’m sorry I don’t want you to get killed by a pack of werewolves on vampire blood.”

She frowned as she punched him in the shoulder, making him chuckle.

“It’s not funny!” she complained. “Sookie won’t even let me get a job and I can barely leave the house!”

“You want a job?” he asked. “I’ll give you a job. I _gave _you a job.”

“Unfortunately telepathic work is rare to find these days.”

“We’ll figure it out,” he smirked.

She glared at him for a moment before she sat up.

“I’ve been stuck in this house my entire life,” she said quietly, “I don’t know how to do anything. I have nothing to write on my resume, I can’t even make one!”

“You can glamour people, you don’t need a resume.”

“Your solution is for me to cheat?”

“Sounds good to me,” he nodded with amusement. “Do you even know what kind of job you want?”

“At this point, I’ll do anything. I’m bored.”

“You have time to figure it out,” he told her as he sat up too.

He placed his hands on her waist and lifted her off the bed as he leaned against the wall and settled her on his lap. She allowed him to do so and was now straddling him.

“Forgive me,” he said as he pulled her closer to him.

She leaned forward and rested her forehead against his as she closed her eyes and sighed. _That wasn’t an apology_, she thought, but it was the closest thing she’d get to one.

“Fine…” she gave up.

He grinned, victorious, before he kissed her. She didn’t kiss him back right away, letting him do all the work. She felt his hands slid down her waist and she knew exactly where they were going, but tonight, she wasn’t in the mood. She placed her hands on his, stopping them.

“Not tonight,” she told him.

“Oh, come one,” he whined, “let me make it up to…” he paused.

She knew why he had stopped because she had heard it too. Though they weren’t hearing the same thing, the source was the same.

_“Where’s that fangbanger bitch, shit, this house is a mess.”_

“Stay here,” he said before he disappeared, leaving her alone on the bed.

“Are you serious?” she breathed out, wondering if he had heard anything of what she had just said a moment ago.

She had no intention of staying in her bedroom and quickly got off her bed to follow him, but she had barely exited her room that she heard a gunshot followed by a scream. It was her sister’s voice shouting a name.

“Eric!”


	12. Chapter 12

Brooklynne almost tripped as she hurried down the stairs. She first found her sister on her left, in the doorway of the living room, holding a gun. She was looking at something on the ground that Brooklynne couldn’t see.

_“Holy Shit! V!”_ she heard from the intruder.

Brooke went to stand near Sookie and quickly found Eric lying on the ground, a hand placed above his bloody shirt. The intruder, whom had taken his wolf form, jumped on the vampire as quickly as Brooklynne understood Eric had been shot in the abdomen. As the animal jumped, he changed back to his human form which allowed Eric to stop him from attacking. Eric’s big hand seized the werewolf by the throat and kept him away from the blood the addict fought for.

“Stay back, Sookie!” Eric ordered her as she pointed her gun at them. “Don’t shoot him. He knows.”

“He knows what?”

“Who do you work for?”

“Give me a taste, fucker. Come on!” was the werewolf’s only response.

“_Who_ sent you?!”

The man started to make odd sounds, as if he was suffocating, waving his hands to signal to his interrogator that he couldn’t speak. Eric frowned, considering it for a moment, then gave him a warning look before he slowly let go of his throat.

As soon as he was free to move, the werewolf pushed Eric down and started biting his abdomen, drinking blood from his wound. The movement made Brooke and Sookie jump. The youngest telepath couldn’t just stand there and watch him get hurt like this, had she had the gun her sister was holding, she’d have done something to end this already. But Brooklynne had a weapon of her own. It might not be as damaging as a bullet, but it was better than doing nothing.

She raised her hand and a strong blinding white light came out of it. She directed the force at the attacker who went flying away from Eric. He hit the wall to his right, just a couple of feet away from her. She heard both men scream in surprise and pain. Her eyes grew big as she saw Eric’s skin burnt as if he had just been standing in the sun.

“Holy shit,” Sookie breathed out.

The werewolf took advantage of the confusion and hurried out of the living room. But Sookie wasn’t going to let him get away. She used her gun a second time and managed to shoot him in the leg. He fell right before the opened front door.

“Eric,” Brooklynne whispered as she kneeled beside him.

She wanted to take his face in her hands, to do something, anything to take the pain away. He gave her a confused look and she couldn’t help but feel guilty for not having told him about her power earlier. If she had known the light she could create was literal sunlight, maybe she’d have said something before. She was about to apologize but he disappeared before she got the chance to open her mouth.

“For the last time,” she heard him growl in the other room, “who is your master?”

Brooklynne quickly got up to join them, and went to stand by her sister once again as she kept her finger on the trigger, ready to shoot again.

_“Think you can mad-dog me, you fucking fanger? You got nothing on Jackson.”_

“If I tell you, I’m as dead as you are. You might as well kill me now.”

Eric’s eyes fell on his shoulder and found there the mark of the “Nazi Werwolf Operation” and he knew it to be true. He wouldn’t talk.

“As you wish,” he said before he dug his teeth in his jugular.

Brooklynne watched as his wounds rapidly disappeared as he drank. He should have already been better and she wondered if the bullet in his abdomen was slowing his healing process.

Eric let go of the werewolf’s head and it hit the floor with a thump. He slowly got up and groaned as he dug his fingers in his stomach to take the bullet out. He let it fall on the floor as he took a few steps towards Brooklynne.

She watched him approach with big worried eyes. The last of his burnt skin healed away as he stopped to stand in front of her. He took her face in his hands and she was surprised to see no anger in his eyes.

“Never do that again,” he said as gently as he could. “Not in front of strangers, not in front of anyone, especially not vampires, do you understand?”

She frowned, too confused to be relieved he wasn’t mad at her. “I… I…”

“Promise me. Unless it could save _your _life, never do that again. No one can know you can do this. Promise me.”

He wasn’t ordering her not to do something like he had before. He wasn’t overprotecting her. He was asking her if she’d do her best to keep herself safe. He was worried.

“I promise,” she said in a whisper. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would hurt you…”

“It’s fine, I’m healed,” he told her as he moved his thumbs to stroke her cheeks. “Can you do that too?” he then asked Sookie.

“I’m not sure,” she shrugged, and he nodded before he looked back down at his human.

“What are you?”

***

“I’m all healed,” Eric repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time.

His bloody shirt had been thrown at his feet, on the floor of Brooklynne’s bedroom, and she inspected his skin with care. Her hands traveled up and down his abdomen, where a bullet wound used to be.

“Are you sure you don’t need more blood?”

“If I drink anymore from you, you’re the one who will be hurt.”

She sighed. “I didn’t know it would hurt you.”

“So you’ve said a thousand times.”

“You’re not mad at me, are you?” she asked with a small voice, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

“Of course not,” he replied as he stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Why would I be mad?”

“For… not telling you that I could do that?”

“Well,” he sighed. “I’m not happy about it. But I’m not mad either. There are things I can do you don’t know about.”

“Like what?” she frowned.

“You wouldn’t believe me,” he smirked.

“Then show me.”

“Another time, maybe,” he shrugged. “I have to go. Sun is coming up and I have to make a few calls.”

“Alright… Will I see you tonight?”

“Not sure. I might come by before sunrise but don’t wait for me.”

“You won’t be at Fangtasia?” she frowned.

“I’m not sure,” he repeated. “What? Are you going to miss me?” he teased.

“Aren’t you gonna miss _me_?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she raised an eyebrow.

He chuckled. “Of course,” he said with amusement. “I’ll send someone to help Sookie find Bill, you don’t have to go with her to Mississippi.”

“Who are you sending?”

“Someone who owes me. Someone you can trust.”

“Fine,” she shrugged. “I’ll just stay here and… clean the house.”

“I told you I’d send someone to do that.”

“Don’t. Then I’ll have nothing to do.”

“Stay safe,” he said before he kissed her lips.

She barely had time to kiss him back that he was already gone.

***

Cleaning the house was going to take a while. At least, Brooklynne would be busy for the next couple of days, while her sister was chasing after her boyfriend with a werewolf. Eric had kept his word, not that Brooklynne doubted him, and Alcide Herveaux had arrived in the early afternoon. Both sisters found it weird that a werewolf would owe Eric but at least he was trustworthy. That tall and (handsome) strong man would keep Sookie safe, Brooklynne had no doubt about that either.

She learnt that day that blood stains were a pain to clean, if not downright impossible. Especially on rugs. Adele would have known what to do, but now, Brooklynne had no choice but to throw away the rug that werewolf from the previous night had bled out on.

Eric had, to her dismay, not visited that first night, and after a second day of cleaning, Brooklynne thought she could use a break. She picked a knee-length sleeveless dress of a nice pastel purple color out of her closet, put on white short heels, shoved her wallet, her phone and her keys in a small round white saddle bag and called a taxi to drive her to Fangtasia.

Pam was standing outside, like the first time she came here with Bill and Sookie, and the vampire watched her approach with a raised eyebrow and her eternal annoyed look.

“What are you doing here?” she asked with a curious yet uninterested tone.

“Thought I’d get out of my house,” she shrugged.

“Eric is not here.”

“I know. I can wait for him.”

“I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

“That’s fine,” she shrugged again. “I’ll just wait at the bar.”

Pam chuckled before she slowly moved her eyes from the telepath’s face down to her feet. Brooklynne waited patiently for the vampire’s eyes to reach hers again. She couldn’t be rushed.

“You’ll get eaten alive,” she said as if she were worried. She knew that if she let her in alone Eric would be mad. Especially if something happened to her. “Come on,” Pam continued as she put a hand on her hip and tilted her head on the side, giving Brooklynne one of her fake smile that was supposed to be friendly, “let’s have a girls night,” she finished, gesturing the telepath to go inside.

Brooklynne didn’t think about it twice. Being babysat by Pam was way better than being alone in her dirty house.

“I won’t serve you alcohol,” Pam said as Brooklynne walked pass her.

Brooklynne rolled her eyes. “I’m over 21.”

“Great. Let’s get you a soda.”

***

“Fuck off.”

Brooklynne had lost count of how many men and women had come to ask Pam for a drink. She always told them the same thing. Even when they asked Brooklynne. They were sitting at the bar, Pam a bottle of Tru Blood in her hand, and Brooklynne a glass of Coca Cola.

“You were saying something?” the vampire said as she brought the bottle to her lips.

“I asked if you ever had a human.”

“What for?”

“… I don’t know… You never met someone you liked? Just even a little bit?”

“I don’t like people, haven’t you noticed?”

“So you’ve never been with a human in a hundred years?”

“All the time. But I’ve never made any of them mine,” she said as if the mere idea was ridiculous. “Vampires only do it for two reasons. Either they’re fools in love or they just like to have a slave around they can drink from whenever they want.”

Brooklynne winced. Which one of those were she?

“Has Eric… ever had a human? Before me I mean?”

“Once, over a decade ago.”

_Ouch. _That hurt more than she thought it would.

“What…” she cleared her throat. “What happened to… them?”

“_She _died.”

Ouch again. Maybe she should just stop asking questions now. “Eric didn’t turn her?” she asked anyway, trying to keep a disinterested tone. She wasn’t fooling the vampire.

“He didn’t get the chance.”

_So he wanted to…_

“What happened to her?”

“He happened. Eric was crazy in love with that French girl. And he was careless. He fucked around with the wrong people.”

“So they… they killed her?” she breathed out. “To get back at him?”

“Something like that…”

“What… what did he do?”

“He put us both, me and her, in danger. They told him to choose. Either I died, or she died. He chose me,” she shrugged, like she knew he’d do it again.

He was in love with her but he chose Pam. Brooklynne could understand of course, she was like his child. But what did it really mean? What did that make of them?

“Pam?” she said after a moment of silence.

“What?”

“So… Is Eric a fool or… am I a slave?” she asked, summoning the courage to look the vampire in the eyes, waiting impatiently for her to respond.

Pam said nothing, neither did her face. She leaned forward then said quietly:

“Why do you think he asked Sookie to keep you out of her business? _Not_ because he wants to control you. He won’t make the same mistake again. Eric will do anything to protect you. He’s attached to you in a way I can’t comprehend but as his progeny I am bound to protect you as well. You’re not a slave. But he _is_ a fool. You will be the death of him. He barely survived losing her, but you’re not her. He let himself fall for you _despite _what happened before, after he swore he wouldn’t do this to himself or anyone else again. He’s in l…”

She stopped. She got off the chair suddenly, dragging Brooklynne out of hers as well. The telepath looked up at the vampire who was looking at the front door of the club.

“What’s wrong?”

“Shit.”

“What’s going on?”

“Shit, shit, shit!”

Pam’s sudden worry alarmed Brooklynne as she couldn’t figure out who or what would put the vampire in such a state.

“Everybody out!” a man in a S.W.A.T uniform shouted as he and others like him entered.

“Come on.”

Pam took Brooklynne by the arm and dragged her across the room while the customers all ran out of the club.

“What’s happening?”

“We’re being raided.”

“Wh-“

“Shit,” Pam said again as she spotted a short bald man entering the club, surrounded by armed agents. He was wearing a black coat and walked with a cane, though Brooklynne doubted he really needed it, seeing as he was a vampire.

“Who’s that?”

“Fuck me.”

Though the words weren’t meant for her, Brooklynne didn’t dare ask another question, especially since she doubted she’d get an answer anyway. She followed Pam down the cold and dark basement and the vampire signaled her to stay quiet as she took out her phone.

“We’re being raided,” she said to Eric. She continued in Swedish. **“It’s not the police, it’s the Magister.”**

“Maybe he shouldn’t come here if…”

Pam shushed her with a wave of her hand and a dark look. Eric said something to Pam which made her sigh. “Yes, she’s here.”

The door of the basement creaked open and the man with the cane appeared at the top of the stairs. Pam pushed Brooklynne behind her as the vampire, whom she guessed was the Magister, joined them down the stairs.

“Well, that’s where you were hiding,” he said with a crooked smile.

He didn’t look particularly menacing but Brooklynne wouldn’t be fooled by his appearance. He tilted his head then pointed his cane at her.

“Who’s that?”

“She’s mine,” Pam said.

“Where’s your maker?” he asked then, now acting like Brooklynne wasn’t even in the room.

“On his way. Can I offer you a bottle of Tru Blood while we wait?” Pam answered with a practiced politeness.

“I didn’t come here for Tru Blood. I came for _our_ blood. Our sacred blood which you and your maker have been selling in this area.”

“That’s insane,” Pam chuckled nervously.

“Oh come on now. You must know by now that we’ve found the blood you were hiding in this… place.”

Pam frowned. Obviously, she had no idea what he was talking about.

“Restrain her,” he said and barely a second had passed before two agents had seized both her arms and pushed Brooklynne away.

The telepath hit the wall but didn’t hurt herself. All it did was remind the Magister of her presence.

“Restrain her too,” he said, eyeing the chains that were already on the floor of the basement. “I’m sure she will be a very useful tool for my interrogation.”

***

Sitting on the dirty, wet and cold floor, Brooklynne tried to block Pam’s screams of pain from her head. She was hanging from the ceiling and the Magister had been poking at her with the end of his cane, which appeared to be made of silver, for about 10 minutes now. Brooklynne had a piece of tissue over her mouth and her hands were tied behind her back, her chains attached to the pillar in the middle of the room, a few feet away from where Pam was hanging.

She jumped suddenly as the door slammed open loudly and Eric appeared before the Magister.

“Let her go!” he yelled. “I am who you want.”

His eyes fell on Brooklynne and she barely had time to see the worry in his eyes before he looked back up at the man before him. “But I’ve been framed.”

“Oh. You’ve got the wrong man. My dog ate my homework. I saw Goody Osburn with the devil,” the Magister said. “Excuses are one thing I can assure you do not get better with age. Do you deny the blood was being sold in your area?”

“Not on my orders.”

“Then on whose? Your queen’s?” he paused. “What shall it be? Desecration of the blood? Or treason against your regent? Both among the most dire of crimes,” he continued before sliding his cane down the skin of Pam’s chest. Her screams made Brooklynne tear up. She watched as Eric watched powerlessly as his progeny was being tortured.

“It was Bill Compton!” Pam shouted, giving them a way out of this.

“It’s true. He’s gone missing,” Eric quickly confirmed. “You’ve seen yourself how easily he betrays our kind for personal gain. I believe he is behind this and I am gathering evidence to bring him to you. Let me finish my work.”

The Magister stared at Eric as he considered his proposal. He stepped back then looked up at Pam.

“They say the loss of a child is the deepest of despair,” he threatened. “Two days, Mr. Northman, or she dies. A true death.”

Brooklynne could see that Eric was trying his best not to tear him apart right there and now. She wondered if the old him, the careless Eric Pam had mentioned earlier, would have done it. His eyes fell on her once more and she hoped she didn’t look too scared. He had to save himself and Pam, she didn’t want to worry him too.

He disappeared the next second, and the Magister resumed Pam’s torture.


	13. Chapter 13

The floor and the air were getting colder as the hours passed. Brooklynne could tell when it was daytime because the Magister, who wouldn’t stop torturing Pam, not even to rest, was starting to bleed from his eyes and his ears, even his nose. He once debated out loud if he should feed from Brooklynne, no doubt to scare both Pam and her, who was supposedly the vampire’s, though he did nothing of the sort. Tru Blood only. Some of his men brought a few bottles before they went back to sleep. When the first day was over and night had finally arrived, more men came by to bring more Tru Blood and see if their boss needed anything else. For some reason, he asked them to take Brooklynne to the bathroom and to get her something to eat, at least remembering humans had more vital needs than vampires.

“You have no right to keep a human here against her will,” Pam had said, which had awakened in him some sorts of sympathy towards the telepath.

From what Brooklynne understood, he was one loyal agent of the Authority and he would rather die than break any law, which is probably why he made sure Brooklynne wouldn’t be starving to death as he kept her near him, tied to the same pillar with those same cold metal chains and on that same dirty floor.

She carefully kept watch on her internal clock, waiting for Eric to come back before the two-day deadline. It was extremely hard to stay focused as Pam’s screams of pains were only getting louder. She was drowsing, sometimes falling asleep for a short time before being awakened by another of Pam’s screams.

But, eventually, she fell asleep, too exhausted to stay awake, her brain getting used to the environment and the incessant screams. This time, it wasn’t Pam who woke her up. It was a scream, a shout, but it wasn’t Pam’s.

“Enough!”

She woke up in a jump, her head hitting the pillar behind her.

“Eric,” she heard Pam breathe out, the relief obvious in her unusual tone.

Eric’s eyes quickly moved from his progeny to his human, though, like the other night, they didn’t linger.

“Mr. Northman,” the Magister sighed as he put down his torture instruments on the table where Pam was attached to with silver chains. “It’s only enough if Bill Compton is with you. Is he?”

“No, Magister,” he said, with a calm and assured tone that made both Pam and Brooke confused. That answer wasn’t what any of them were hoping for. “But the queen of Louisiana is.”

As he finished his sentence, a beautiful red head wearing a white elegant suit and white high heels walked down the stairs. She appeared behind the Viking with a disgusted look on her face as she looked around the basement.

Brooklynne looked up at the Magister who looked even more confused than she was.

“Our deal was…”

“I’ll confess that you were correct before in suspecting me. But everything I did was at her behest.”

The Magister frowned then stepped away from the table where Pam was shivering on.

“You realize, of course, you’re committing treason…” he said as he walked towards the two vampires, “throwing your queen under the bus as you are.”

Brooklynne’s heart tightened in her chest as she became not only nervous, but also scared, for her vampire. Treason sounded like something one would be put to death for.

“Oh, but she’s no longer my queen,” Eric replied. “My loyalty is to Mississippi now.”

“And Mississippi is proud to welcome Mr. Northman as her own,” a voice said from the top of the stairs.

The door slammed behind him, the sudden appearance startling Brooklynne. The vampire was elegant, wearing a dirty grey jacket above his clear blue shirt. He appeared short next to Eric though anyone would appear short next to him, but he also seemed shorter than the queen of Louisiana.

“Love the place, love your vibe,” he said as he walked pass Eric, “we must talk franchising later.”

The Magister laughed quietly as if anything in this situation was funny. “Russell Edgington.”

“You may call me King,” Russell said with a smile, a correction that didn’t please the Magister and that made it clear to both Brooklynne and Pam that a switch of power had just taken place.

“Is it true what Northman says?” the Magister asked Sophie-Anne.

With fear on her face, the queen took a deep breath before she nodded. “Yes, Magister,” she confessed.

“Then I’m afraid I’m gonna have to arrest you.”

The queen then didn’t look so sure. Not about herself as the fear had disappeared from her face, but about what the Magister had just told her. She turned her head to look at Russell who was smiling, somewhat amused by the situation.

“By the powers vested in me by the Authority…”

“The Authority?” Russell cut him off, laughing then at the look the Magister gave him. “Are you serious? Who are the Authority?” he asked, taking a step forward. The Magister watched him walk pass him as if he had just killed his progeny. “What gave them the authority?”

As Russell started to rant, Eric took the opportunity that the Magister was distracted to make his way towards his progeny. He discreetly looked down at Brooklynne, nodding as if to tell her that everything was going to be alright.

“You okay?” he asked Pam who nodded.

“Nothing!” Russell continued. “They took it, as I am taking it today. I no longer recognize the Authority.”

“You are aware…” the Magister started to say before he saw Eric trying to get Pam off the table, “she stays on the table!”

Eric obliged. But as Pam had reminded the Magister the day before, the Authority had no right to keep a human against her will, and neither did he. Eric quickly turned around to free Brooklynne from her chains.

“You okay?” he asked quietly, cupping her cheek in his hand.

She wanted to nod, to say yes, but no sound came out of her mouth. She didn’t even have the strength to lie. She put everything she had in trying to keep the tears from falling. As he helped her on her feet, the Magister continued his speech.

“You are aware that just saying that is a cardinal sin.”

Russell rolled his eyes. “I am aware of just what a tough little boat I’m putting you in and honestly, it is kind of fun,” he said as he took a step forward, coming inches from the Magister’s face.

He chuckled without humor. “You know I’m beholden by duty to convey your blasphemy to the…”

“To the Authority? Well, that won’t be happening. But enough about you,” Russell said as he took a step back and went to stand near the queen. “In exchange for the money she owes the IRS, Queen Sophie-Anne…” he paused to put a kiss on her shoulder. Brooklynne watched her try hard not to run away from her crazy future husband. “has kindly accepted my marriage proposal.”

“I had no choice,” the queen said with hidden disgust.

“Your Majesty…”

“Yes, my loyal subject?” Russell’s insult left the Magister speechless and the King of Mississippi took the opportunity to continue, “oh, we would be delighted if you would officiate the wedding for us.”

“I am forbidden to conduct any rights of alignment unless specifically author…”

“Unless specifically authorized to do so by the Authority. Yes, well, perhaps you have not quite grasped the subtext of our earlier exchange, but there’s a new fucking authority in town!” Russell shouted, making most of them jump but especially Brooklynne who squeezed Eric’s hand even harder as she got closer to him.

“I swear fealty now and always to the one true vampire authority in whose wisdom and justice…”

The Magister’s little tirade did nothing but annoy furthermore Russell and make him lose the little patience he had left. In less than half a second, faster than Brooklynne had ever witnessed, Pam was free of her chains and the Magister had taken her place on the table. Eric instantly made his way to her, not letting go of Brooklynne for one second.

“I’m fine,” she breathed out quickly, before either of them had the chance to ask.

The queen was getting more and more nervous, knowing that either way, she wouldn’t win. On the extremely little chance of Russell dying there and now she’d still be condemned to the true death for selling V. But if she did indeed marry him, which was the most likely scenario, she’d be married to a psychopath who was about to be on the Authority’s number one hit list. And so would she.

Russell picked up the Magister’s cane from the floor and started to admire the woodwork.

“You pathetic fool. Blindly doing the bidding of others just like humans. It’s vampires like you who’ve been holding the rest of us back for centuries,” he said before he took off the lid at the bottom of the cane, revealing a silver pointy end.

Brooklynne looked up at Eric and for once wished he could read her mind as she wondered why he would ever ally himself to a vampire like Russell Edgington. Putting her doubts aside, she decided to trust him for the time being, knowing, or hoping, he had a good explanation for this madness.

She winced and jumped as she watched Russell stab the Magister over and over again as he had done to Pam.

“You can dish it out but you sure can’t take it, can you, Magister?” Pam said.

“Let’s see how this plays out, Pam,” Eric replied. “We can always taunt later.”

“Can we hurry this along?” Sophie-Anne asked. “I’m getting cold feet.”

“Of course, my little pudding,” he told her. He took two steps towards the Magister then lifted the table so that he was facing the room. “This could be so much less painful if you just said the fucking words!”

“I am bound by duty to uphold the sacred laws of…”

The Magister was unable to finish his sentence as Russell swiftly placed the end of the cane on his heart. Another word, and he would be nothing more but a gross puddle of blood.

“Uh-uh-uh,” he smiled. “Your call.”

The Magister slowly raised his head, looked at both the King and the Queen, and, realizing there was no way out of this, gave up.

“I hereby pronounce you… husband and wife.”

Russell smiled before he removed the cane from the Magister’s chest. “Thank you.”

“Yes, thanks,” Sophie-Anne said with a fake smile. “I’m so happy I could bleed.”

“Congratulations, Your Majesties,” Eric told them.

“Yes, congrats,” Pam nodded with a smile Brooke had never seen from her.

Russell bowed before he stepped forwards, and as he got closer to her, Brooklynne got closer to Eric. They were about to leave when the Magister made the biggest and last mistake of his eternal life. He opened his mouth.

“You realize, of course, the authority will never recognize…”

“It’s own irrelevancy?” Russell cut him off again. “That’s where you and I differ, Magister. I truly believe they will, and soon. It’s time for you to outgrow your blind allegiance to the Authority and their rule of law. There is only one law! The law of nature. The survival of the fittest. And we need to take this world back from the humans and not placate them with billboards and PR campaigns while they destroy it! That is not authority. That is abdicating authority!”

“Your Majesty,” Eric stopped him, sensing Brooklynne’s fear rise up at the words of his new King. “Shall we?” he asked, stepping aside, freeing the access to the stairs.

Russell sighed. “We shall!”

He took one step, two steps, following his subjects and his new wife before, at the fourth step, he stopped, changing his mind.

“Actually, no,” he said, making his way back to the Magister. “Say hello to the true death.”

Eric quickly turned Brooklynne around and buried her face in his chest, putting both his hands behind her head to prevent her from seeing Russell cut the head of the Magister which went flying across the room and reached the floor in a splash that he unfortunately wasn’t able to shield his human from hearing.

***

The ringing in her ears wasn’t going away. A thousand questions were popping up in her head as she was sitting on the couch in Eric’s office. Russell and Sophie-Anne had disappeared, and the king had ordered Eric to wait for them at Fangtasia, assuring him he’d be back before sunrise. Pam and Eric had been arguing ever since and Brooklynne was listening in silence as some of her questions were being answered.

“When I was human, I witnessed the murder of my entire family. My father, my mother… my baby sister… I’ve been looking for the man responsible ever since. When I was in Mississippi, I found my father’s crown in Russell’s office. In his… collection,” he explained slowly, quietly, while Pam was staring at him in silence, wondering why she was only hearing about this now. “I knew the werewolves had something to do with him. I just didn’t know… it was a vampire.”

“Over a hundred years I’ve been with you Eric, and you’ve never said…”

“It wasn’t your burden to bear.”

“But you didn’t have to bear it alone…”

“Pam,” he cut her off. “I have to do this. And I have to do it alone.”

“And how are you planning on killing a vampire that’s twice your age?” she shouted.

“I don’t know… and he’s three times my age.”

“Russell’s three thousand years old?” Brooklynne finally spoke up.

Eric’s eyes fell on her as if he was suddenly reminded that she was there, as if her silence had rendered her invisible.

“Yes. He’s the most powerful vampire in this side of the world. Maybe in all of the world.”

“But how…”

Brooklynne didn’t have the time to ask her question as Russell suddenly appeared in the office, her new wife behind him. The door met the shelves in a bang and a box of Tru Blood almost fell off of it.

“I’m sorry,” the vampire chuckled as if something was amusing, “about the mess I’ve made in your basement, I’ll send someone to clean it all. We don’t want the Authority to suspect anything, after all, do we?” he said with a smile.

“We appreciate that, thank you,” Eric said with the fakest smile Brooklynne had ever seen.

“Now,” Russell said as he turned around towards Brooklynne. The telepath looked at him with big eyes, wishing she could just teleport out of there. “You never mentioned you had a human,” he continued as he looked up to Eric.

“Nobody’s perfect,” Eric chuckled awkwardly.

“Indeed. You look quite attached to your little toy. Tell me, you’re planning on making her one of us soon, aren’t you?”

“That’s the plan,” Eric nodded with another grin that creeped Brooke out.

“Splendid! It would be a waste to let this beautiful doll at the mercy of time and death, wouldn’t it, dear?” he asked his queen.

“Indeed it would,” she agreed, though not really because she did agree with him, but as to not contradict him. “We should leave now or we’ll meet the sun on our way _home_,” she said with a hidden grimace, as if she would rather meet the sun than follow him anywhere.

“You are right, pudding. Eric, you’re coming with us.”

There was a brief uncomfortable silence before Eric gave him another one of his fake smiles and nodded. “As you wish, Majesty.”

“Leave your little pet here, however. I have no time for humans.”

Russell gestured Sophie-Anne out of the office and Brooklynne stood up as Eric walked pass her. He stopped, took her face in his hands before he kissed her lips.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Stay with Pam. Don’t go home.”

“What? Why?”

“Don’t let her go home,” he ordered Pam who had no choice but to nod.

“Don’t die,” she ordered him in return.

He nodded too then looked back down at Brooklynne, stroke her cheeks with his thumbs before he kissed her again. She barely had time to kiss him back that he was already gone.


	14. Chapter 14

There was no escaping Pam. The vampire had made it impossible for Brooklynne to go outside of Fangtasia, even for a minute. “I never disobeyed Eric, I’m not about to do it now,” she had said. But Brooklynne couldn’t bare it. She had to leave, she had to go. As soon as she found her phone, she had been surprised by the number of calls that she had received. Not because there were a lot of them, that was to be expected, but because of when she received them. She had been a prisoner here for two days and Sookie hadn’t even tried to call her once. The only calls she missed were from Tara and Jason. Listening to the dozens of messages they had left them, she learnt that Tara had been kidnapped by a delusional vampire named Franklin who took her to Mississippi where she first found Bill, then Sookie, who too had been kidnapped by a vampire of the name of Russell Edgington. Brooklynne was confused to hear about it, as Eric hadn’t mentioned her sister at all. She had been even more confused when she heard that Eric was there, saw them both, even Bill, but did nothing. Tara went as far as to call the Viking a “motherfucking traitor”. Brooklynne couldn’t blame her, after all, it did feel like betrayal. But she chose to trust Eric, she chose to think the best about the situation. If Eric had helped any of them, he’d probably be dead, and gone would have been his chances at avenging his family. But still, knowing that he left Sookie in the hands of Russell, especially since he knew of her powers, that hurt. That hurt much more than she would like to admit, even to herself. But all of that dilemma was forgotten in a second after she heard Jason’s messages. It was a horrific rollercoaster. First, she heard him say Bill had drained Sookie of most of her blood, then heard that her sister almost died. She heard too many messages of her brother asking her where she was and “what the fuck” she was doing. Sookie needed her, she needed her blood. The hospital couldn’t find Sookie’s blood type, and Brooklynne was her only chance of survival. Listening to these messages, she begged Pam to let her go, she cried, she screamed and even kicked but the vampire had no sympathy and even threatened, more than once, to chain her back to the bloody basement. The fighting stopped though, when she listened to the last message her brother had left her, informing her that Bill had arrived and fed Sookie his blood. Sookie was safe. Sookie was alive.

Exhausted by the last two days and especially the last hour, she let herself fall on the grey couch in Eric’s office, putting on the way too tight clothes that Ginger had brought over, ignoring the food that was on the desk that the waitress had “cooked” herself. She fell asleep almost instantly, leaving the horror of reality behind, just to step inside the horror of her mind.

Question after question, doubt after doubt, nightmare after nightmare, Brooklynne slept over forty hours in a row but got very little rest. All of her quiet and hidden worries came to life, dreaming of Eric, but not exactly Eric, or maybe just exactly him. Maybe the scary smirking vampire in her nightmares were exactly who Eric was and she was just too stupid to realize it. Maybe he didn’t really care about Sookie, maybe he would have killed her himself if it meant securing his revenge. Maybe he was a bloodthirsty vampire like Sookie had said, someone who didn’t care at all about her, or just about her powers, someone who would kill her once he had no more use of her.

When she wasn’t dreaming of Eric she dreamt of Russell or the Magister, or both. She watched the latter die over and over again, watched him torture Pam, torture her, torture Eric and then die by the hand of Russell Edgington. She watched herself be killed by him, watched Sookie die by his hand as well, watched a faceless vampire kill Tara and Jason. She heard Pam’s screams echoing inside of her head, saw Eric’s concerned look turn into an evil grin, saw herself with burning wings and falling from the sky.

None of those nightmares woke her up, no matter how bad they got. It was a loud noise that had her jerk awake, and an apparition that had her jump and almost fall off the couch.

“We need sanctuary,” she heard Eric say as he walked in.

Pam was there too, as surprised as Brooklynne as the telepath heard the vampire gasp, obviously unaware of what had her maker so panicked.

“Oh my God, what have you done?” she asked as she saw the blood on his shirt and on his face.

“Are you okay?” Brooklynne asked as she got up from the couch and made her way to him over to the desk.

“I staked a vampire, the lover of Russell Edgington,” he informed them, pacing the room. Brooklynne had never seen him like this, neither had Pam.

“Are you insane?!”

“Where can we go?!” he shouted back at her, making both women jump.

“We can go to my house…” Brooklynne started but he cut her off.

“No, that’s out of the question.”

“You never panic, should I be panicking?” Pam asked right as Ginger appeared behind her.

“Ginger, dear,” Eric started to say, “where do you live?”

“Across the river in Bossier, why?”

“We need your house. Now-ish,” Pam answered.

“Because of the V-feds?”

“The V-feds?” Brooklynne repeated, confused.

As she received no answer she looked up at both Eric and his progeny and what she saw was less than reassuring.

“They’re here for the Magister,” Pam guessed.

“What? But…”

“Russell sent a crew to clean up, right?”

“Yeah, I checked everything myself, the basement is spotless,” Pam answered.

“Let’s stay calm, and let’s go,” Eric instructed, “Brooke you know nothing, and if they try to glamour you, pretend like it’s working.”

“What about me?” Ginger asked.

“You…” Eric sighed, “you can just be yourself.”

He gave a look to his progeny then gave a reassuring nod to Brooklynne, before he walked out of his office, followed by everyone else.

***

Confused, Brooklynne stayed silent as Nan Flanagan ordered her men to silver Pam and Eric. The 800 year-old vampire said nothing as her eyes fell on Brooklynne and continued to ignore the human as she interrogated Pam first, then Eric. To everyone’s surprise, Eric was brutally honest about everything. He told them about Russell and his pack of werewolves. He told them of his own family and need for revenge. He told all of that, knowing it would probably get him killed, in front of cameras, in front of the famous Authority Brooke had heard so much about.

After Nan left Fangtasia a little before sunrise, leaving some of her men to guard her prisoners, Pam said nothing as she gave a worried, sad and confused look to her maker, before she made her way to the other room where her coffin was waiting for her. Eric didn’t follow her and instead made his way to his office where Brooklynne found him.

He was sitting at his desk with a worried look Brooklynne wasn’t accustomed to see on his face. He raised his head a little as she walked inside the room. She said nothing as she closed the door and made her way to him.

“I’m mad at you,” she said in a calm tone.

“Lying would have been futile.”

“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about you leaving my sister to a crazy psycho vampire who hates human and who’s probably gonna do terrible things to her once he knows what she is!”

“You mean a fairy?” he said suddenly, almost making her jump despite his quiet voice and calm attitude. The look on her face told him everything he wanted to know.

“How do you…”

“Your cousin told me.”

“My cousin?” she frowned.

“Hadley.”

“How did you… How does she…”

“She was Sophie-Anne’s human until a few days ago. She’s the one who told her about you and your… abilities. The queen sent Bill to investigate.”

It took a minute for the telepath to realize what it all meant. “She sent Bill,” she breathed out. “Bill… became friends with Sookie…”

“It was his job. Though I have no doubt his feelings are real, knowing how he is…”

A word escaped her mouth she had never said before. It surprised Eric too.

“I couldn’t have helped Sookie even if I wanted to…”

“I know that. I just… I wish you would have told me…”

“I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Nobody wants to worry me!” she replied loudly. “Nobody tells me anything because they think I’m too weak to hear it! And I’m sick of it!”

“I’m sorry.”

His apology took her by surprise. She couldn’t remember if he had ever apologized, to her or anyone.

She sighed. She let go of her anger, not wanting to spend what could be their last moment together angry at him. She sat on his lap like he liked her to do and rested her head on his chest.

“What do you think is going to happen?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes you do.”

He sighed. “I’d be lucky if they decide to put me in a box for a thousand years.”

“They can do that?” she asked, with a horrified look on her face as she looked up at him.

“Oh, yes.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry about it. It won’t help either me or you.”

“But…”

He didn’t let her finish as he gently brought her head back to his chest.

“You’ll be fine. When I’m gone… never tell anyone what you are. Take Sookie and go. The queen knows what you are and what you can do. What your blood can do. She wants it. She wants the sun. She can never have it, do you understand?” he asked as he took her face in his hands and locked her eyes in his to emphasize his point. “If he doesn’t already know it, Russell will figure it out too. Never tell anyone. _Ever_. Promise me.”

Tears filled her eyes as she stared back at him, his plea echoing in her head. A few tears fell down as she nodded.

“What am I gonna do without you?” she asked in a trembling whisper.

“You’ll be just fine,” he said, bringing her closer to his chest. “If they leave Pam alone, you can always trust her and ask her for help.”

“I’m sure she’d rather I leave her alone,” she chuckled sadly.

“Yes. But she’d do it for me.”

“You’re gonna be okay,” she said, completely aware of her denial.

He smiled as he stroke her hair. “We’re all going to be okay.”

***

An entire day had gone by and Eric hadn’t gotten any sleep at all. Around midnight, they found Pam at a table in the club, waiting silently for Flanagan to come back with the verdict. She said nothing to her maker, though the look on her face said it all. Eric and Brooklynne sat at the table next to hers and they didn’t move nor say anything for about an hour.

At last, Nan came back with a letter in her hands. She looked angry and in a hurry. This was going to be quick, and the armed men following her made it certain that the arrest, if arrest there was, would be quick too.

“You look like shit,” she told Eric.

“Well I feel fantastic,” she replied dryly.

“The ruling is as follows,” she said as she opened the letter. Brooklynne squeezed Eric’s hand and she felt her heart starting to beat faster inside of her chest. She knew Eric would hear it too. “The Authority disavows any knowledge of our interview, your statement or, indeed, this ruling itself. None of this ever happened.”

“What?” Eric voiced what Pam and Brooklynne were feeling too.

“Missing royals, dead Magisters… It’s a political tar baby no one wants to touch,” she explained. “Not with the VRA close to ratification.”

“Russell will not stop killing,” Eric told her. “What if the human public learns of it.”

“That’s why you’re going to take care of it. Quietly, discreetly, and, most important of all, completely off the books. You wanted revenge, it’s yours.”

“What resources are you gonna give me?”

“None. We’re not getting near it.”

“How do you expect me to kill him? He’s three times my age.”

“Listen, you whiny little bitch. The only link between Sophie-Anne, Russell and the Magister is you. You brought us this steaming pile of shit and you’re going to make it go away. Bring me his fangs, or I will have yours.”

She turned around without another word, followed by all of her men, leaving the two vampires and the fairy alone to digest what had just been said. Eric turned around to look at his progeny who seemed to be as worried as he was. His eyes fell on his human and he could almost read her mind.

It was a death sentence after all.


	15. Chapter 15

The club had never been so quiet. Pam had gone to rest, leaving her maker alone with his human. It was hard for both of them to say goodbye. Eric thought it was denial that pushed him to agree to Brooke’s plan. Brooke only spoke of hope.

Even after Russell killed a news anchor on live television, the Authority still refused to help Eric and give him any resources that could help him destroy the three-thousand-year-old vampire. The only resource he had was Brooklynne. And Brooklynne had a plan.

“You go to him. You tell him you have a proposition for him. _Me_. You offer him the sun and in exchange he spares all of us.”

“He’s gonna want to test it, to see if it’s true,” Pam continued.

“So, he drinks my blood and goes out in the sun. I’m only a hybrid, I’m not full fairy, so the effect of my blood won’t last long.”

“That’s when you come in. You step outside when he gets weak and stake him. It’s the only shot we got.”

“I don’t like it,” he muttered.

“You don’t have to like it,” Brooke said dryly, surprising both vampires. “You just have to do it.”

“She’s right,” Pam nodded. “Unless you have a better idea?”

Eric considered it, worried eyes moving from his progeny to his human. He looked for a better idea, a plan that would make him update his will useless, but he couldn’t find any.

“No,” he said quietly. “No, I don’t.”

“How sure are we that your blood can do that?” Pam then asked the question that should already be answered.

“Someone told me.”

“Who?” Eric asked with a raised eyebrow.

Brooklynne avoided their eyes and shrugged. “Someone.”

“Eric’s survival is at stake so ‘someone’ isn’t good enough.”

Brooklynne sighed. “You… you’ll make fun of me.”

“Why?”

“Just tell us,” Pam ordered with an annoyed tone.

Brooklynne hesitated for a moment, then straightened up, getting ready for what was to come.

“My fairy godmother…” she whispered so low a human wouldn’t have heard her.

Eric and Pam stayed silent for a short moment before Pam said: “She’s fucking with us.”

“No, I’m not!” Brooke replied, obviously offended.

“You have a fairy godmother?” Eric asked, as ridiculous as it sounded.

“Yes. Her name is Claudine,” the fairy said as a-matter-of-factly, straightening up on her stool, “she’s also Sookie’s godmother.”

Pam rolled her eyes, speechless for once.

“Is she full fairy?” Eric asked.

“Yes, why?”

“How many fairies do you know?”

“Just her… why?” she asked again, now getting suspicious.

“So, fairies aren’t extinct?” Pam said, now thinking about what it could mean for her species.

“Hey, no!” Brooke exclaimed. “Don’t even think about it,” she told the vampires as she pointed a finger at them. “They don’t even live in the same dimension as us.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Eric innocented himself.

“There’s another dimension?” Pam asked, now annoyed at the possibility.

“Yes, they had to leave… our dimension… because it was too dangerous here… because of vampires.”

“It is true then,” Eric said with a sigh, “vampires did run the fairies out of this world.”

“Anyway,” Brooke changed the subject, “we need to find Russell before he finds us. Which is not going to be hard for him since he’s been here before.”

“It’s dawn,” Eric replied. “He won’t be showing up anytime soon. I’ll go to Mississippi first thing tonight.”

“Our probable last day undead,” Pam said. “Want to spend it sleeping?”

“We need to be well-rested for tonight. We can’t take any chances on this one. Do you want to go home? See your siblings?” he asked Brooklynne.

“Yeah, I do,” she nodded. “But I can’t… they won’t let me come back here.”

“Are you sure? You might not be able to say goodbye…”

“I don’t have a choice,” she cut him off. “Sookie will know what we’re planning, and she’ll lock me up in my room,” she scoffed. “I’ll just… leave her a message.”

“As you wish,” he merely nodded. “Make yourself at home,” he told her as he cupped her cheek in his hand, “we’ll be in the basement.”

She gave him a sad smile. “Sleep well,” she said before she tiptoed to kiss him.

“I really don’t have to see that,” Pam complained with a grimace before she pushed herself off of her stool and walked away.

“You should get some rest too. Ginger will stop by at noon and bring you something to eat.”

“I don’t think I can eat anything…”

“You should, you’re going to need your strength.”

She nodded. “See you tonight.”

He tried to smile as he stroked her cheek with his thumb.

“See you tonight.”

***

Sleeping wasn’t an option to Brooklynne. She could lay there, on any couch of the club, or even in Eric’s office, but wouldn’t fall asleep, couldn’t even close her eyes. Minutes seemed to be hours and waiting was an excruciating task for the fairy hybrid. It became worst after Ginger never showed up with the food Eric promised her, and if things weren’t hard enough, Brooke received a text message from Sookie that made staying in Fangtasia an even harder task.

_“We’re fucking ALIENS._

_Fucking fairies, Brooke call me ASAP!!”_

The text messages continued to come, faster and angrier, and Brooklynne hoped her sister wouldn’t try to come look for her at the club. Why did Bill choose this moment to tell her the truth about who she was? Damn Bill Compton. Brooklynne was sick of the traitorous vampire. But what could she do? Tell her sister Bill never loved her and it was all a job for him from the beginning? She couldn’t do that. Not in a text message at least. But she hoped she would have a chance to do it, if Russell didn’t kill them all tonight.

Not even a minute had passed after the night had settled that both Eric and Pam woke from their vampiric sleep and returned to the club where an exhausted and starving Brooklynne was waiting.

“Damn it Ginger! Where the fuck is she?” Eric had growled when Brooke told him the waitress never showed up.

The vampire ordered his progeny to fetch some human food and Pam obliged grumbling. Eric took the opportunity to have some time alone with his human, trying to find the courage to tell her what he almost never said to anyone, because he feared there wouldn’t be another occasion to tell her how he felt about her.

He stood there, near the bar, his hand resting on the counter, his eyes on the fairy who was sitting on his chair, on his throne, her legs over the arm, her eyes staring at the black ceiling. She was fascinated by that ceiling, so black, since the lights weren’t turned on, it was a sinkhole where she lost all worries and which allowed her to calm herself.

His eyes traveled on her bare legs up to her perfect face where he found unfocused eyes and tranquility. How could she be so beautiful right now? How could she be so calm and look so innocent as they were about to attempt to kill the eldest vampire in the world. As they were about to die.

“Brooklynne.”

Her name escaped him, and the whisper stayed heavy on his lips, as if he didn’t want her to hear him.

“Brooklynne,” he repeated, louder this time, and with more self-assurance.

She tilted her head towards him, her hair covering the arm of the chair against which she was leaning. She waited for him to talk but all he did was gesture for her to come to him. She stared at the vampire for a few seconds before she put her feet on the ground and got off the throne.

“What is it?” she asked as she neared him.

“I’m leaving now,” he said and the tranquility that had found her earlier left so quickly her heart skipped a beat.

“Oh,” she merely replied in a quiet whisper.

“You know I might not come back.”

“I know,” she whispered and nodded as she looked down at her feet, unable to face him, even though she was dying to look at him, knowing she might never see him again.

He brought his hand to her face, gently cupping her left cheek, making her look up at him as he wanted to see her before he left, see her one last time, trying to memorize the color of her eyes so he could remember them when Russell teared him apart.

“Thank you,” he said calmly.

She frowned. “For what?”

“For being mine,” he replied, and she could feel her eyes fill with tears. “If I die tonight, know that my only regret is that I did not find you sooner,” he said as he got closer to her, bringing his other hand to her face. “And if we never see each other again…,” he paused, the words weighing on him as he had rarely used them, almost never said them, “know that I love you and never have any doubt about it. You make me better, and of all the years that I have lived, I will cherish this one more than any others. I love you.”

A tear fell down her cheek and he was waiting for her to say it back, hoping she felt the same way, knowing he didn’t deserve her or her love. She tiptoed, suddenly, quickly sliding her hand in his hair before her lips crashed on his. He kissed her back almost immediately, with the same need, and the same fear.

She let go, eventually, not just to breathe, but to say the words she needed to say now more than ever. “I love you too.”

And as he heard the words he felt his heart break, a voice in his head telling him he didn’t deserve it, that he deserved to die tonight and that she would be better off without him anyway.

“You’re not gonna die,” she whispered with a trembling voice, the knot in her throat making it hard for her to talk.

“I’m not gonna die,” he repeated, not because he believed it, nor did he hope for it, but to reassure her, to make the pain go away, or at least some of it.

He tried to catch her gaze, to find her eyes, but she could hardly look at him, her eyes looking down, maybe because she didn’t want him to see her cry. He pressed his lips on her forehead and even though the kiss lasted a few seconds, it didn’t feel quite enough to either of them.

He let go, suddenly, and she almost felt naked standing there alone. She turned around, looked around the club to find him even though she knew he was already gone.

***

Pam got back a little while after Eric’s departure and she would have killed Brooklynne on the spot if she knew Eric wouldn’t give her the true death her for it. Brooklynne had never seen the vampire so angry. She broke a few chairs as she raged about her maker leaving without saying goodbye.

“He better not die,” she growled as she threw another chair across the room.

The minutes passed and seemed like hours as both women waited for Eric to come back. Brooke focused on Pam as she knew if Eric were to die, she’d feel it. It was the most horrible feeling than to wait for someone she loved to die. As if hope left her gradually as she waited in silence.

About three hours later after he left, the door of Fangtasia opened and Pam and Brooklynne quickly got up, preparing themselves to see the vampire alive, but also to welcome Russell back to the club. Brooklynne swallowed heavily as she watched the three-thousand-year old vampire step inside, followed by the Viking.

The psychopath was holding a transparent glass jar which contained what seemed to be what was left of Talbot. Brooklynne grimaced as she saw the blood and thought that if Russell weren’t crazy before, he definitely was now, walking around with his former lover in a jar of blood.

“Well, you didn’t lie, I’ll give you that,” he told Eric. “Here’s our willing victim,” he said, pointing a finger at Brooklynne with a creepy smile. “Now we just have to see if she can really give me the sun.”

***

To give Russell the sun, they first had to wait for it. Two hours of sitting still on a stool, forced to listen to his delusional fantasies.

“You seriously expect me to believe _she_’s fairy? A species extinct for millennia? If they ever existed at all. You think I wouldn’t notice if there were fairies bouncing around in the world?”

“I didn’t say she was full fairy. She’s a human-fairy hybrid, which helped save her from detection. And she agreed to give you some of her blood for you to walk in the sun whenever you like in exchange for our lives.”

“You could synthesize her blood, like Tru Blood, and give the sun to all vampires, and become the richest man on the planet,” Pam told him, thinking the offer would sound appealing to him.

“I have money,” he scoffed as he sat down at the table, on another stool across from Brooklynne. “I don’t want to give the sun to all vampires. I just need it for me.”

“So? Do you accept our offer?” Eric asked walking up behind him.

“I’m intrigued.”

“Excellent,” Eric grinned, looking up at Brooklynne, who knew she should be grateful, but didn’t let herself be relieved just yet. Russell’s next words gave her reason.

“On one condition.”

“Whatever you like,” Eric faked enthusiasm.

“You go first.”

Eric’s smile didn’t fade, but it was becoming obvious that it was fake. They all paused, and Eric nodded after a second: “I’d love to.”

The plan couldn’t work if Eric went first. Brooke’s blood would stop working on him before it weakened Russell enough to allow any of them to kill him. They were all done.

“You have cameras outside, I’ve noticed,” Russell continued, “I’ll watch you from here, and join you if you don’t burn.”

“I’ll see you out there then,” the Viking said as he held a hand out to the hybrid. “Pam will heal you.”

“Okay,” Brooke nodded as she took his hand and got up.

He gently seized her wrist and she shivered when she saw his fangs. She ignored the pain which passed after a second and tried to focus on anything other than her blood being drained. He drank for half a minute, enough that he would be able to stand in the sun for about five minutes, not enough to kill Russell.

“The screens are up there,” Eric said as he pointed a finger to the corner of the bar.

As Russell turned them on, Eric made his way to the door. To the sun. He turned around to look at his progeny, whose instincts were screaming at her to not let her maker expose himself to the daylight, then to Brooklynne, who knew it would work, just not for how long.

“Go on,” Russell said as he saw Eric wasn’t already out there.

The blond vampire took a deep breath before he opened the door to the entrance which led him to the front door. As he disappeared behind the first door, both Pam and Brooklynne joined Russell behind the bar and looked up at the screens. Pam was expecting her maker to go up in flames but as he took his first steps in the daylight, all he felt was the cool air of the early morning mixed with the painless warmth of the sun.

Russell started to giggle like a maniac while Pam lost a red tear of joy. The sun was now a possibility to her, if she ever wanted to take a five-minute walk in the sun. But five minutes in the daylight were better than an eternal night.

“Alright, alright,” Russell laughed, “my turn.”

He jumped on Brooklynne faster than either she or Pam had expected. A scream escaped her as he plunged his fangs in the blue vein of her neck. Pam was ready to forcefully remove him away from her, but she didn’t need to as the vampire was more than impatient to join Mr. Northman in the sun.

Russell suddenly let go of the mortal and hurried outside. He was next to Eric before Brooke ever got the chance to hit the ground. Fortunately, Pam caught her in time. The vampire mumbled something the fairy hybrid didn’t understand before she bit her wrist. Brooklynne was barely conscious when she was forcefully fed the vampire’s blood.

“Feeling better?” Pam asked as Brooke started to open her eyes again.

“Mmh,” was her only response.

After a minute, she had had more than enough to heal and was able to get off the ground.

“Thank you.”

“Whatever.”

“What are we gonna do? That wasn’t the plan.”

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “He’ll probably kill Eric once he realizes the effect of your blood only lasts a little while. Then he’ll kill us both.”

Brooklynne shook her head as she tried to come up with a new plan that would get them rid of Russell for good and save their lives. She looked up at the screens, to see how the two vampires were doing out there in the sun for the first time in centuries, and what she saw almost stopped her heart.

“Pam!”

“What now?” the vampire mumbled.

“Look!”

Eric was lying on the ground, burning next to Russell, his hand cuffed to the King of Mississippi’s, who was starting to feel a little hot too.

“What is he doing?” Pam breathed out, contemplating getting out there herself to free her maker.

But she wouldn’t have to, she didn’t need to. Brooklynne ran outside, with the intention of bringing them both back inside, forgetting that Eric was almost twice her weight.

“What the hell are you doing?” she yelled at him.

“Go away,” he said, not without difficulty. “No forgiveness.”

Brooke frowned, confused, but didn’t let that stop her.

“I won’t let you do this.”

She knew why he was doing it. He was making sure that Russell died so she and Pam would be safe. What he didn’t understand was that without him, neither of them wanted to live.

“Where’s the key?” she asked as she kneeled next to him and started to look inside the pockets of his leather jacket.

“Go away,” he repeated in a painful whisper. Brooklynne ignored him.

“Damn it,” she said as she realized there was only one solution to the problem.

She positioned herself between them both, rose her hand and aimed for the cuffs. A strong burning and blinding light escaped from her hand and broke the chain of the cuffs that was keeping Eric and Russell together.

“Ah, thank you, dear fairy,” Russell started to say, “I will reward you handsomely.”

“Shut up,” she told him as she grabbed the shoulders of Eric’s jacket and quickly dragged him back inside.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 18+ in the very end
> 
> Sorry this is so short

“What the hell were you thinking?” Pam yelled at Eric as she helped Brooke lay him on one of the tables of the club.

The Viking couldn’t answer. He was in terrible shape, his face burnt all over, smoke coming out of his injuries.

“He needs blood,” Pam said.

“I know.”

“He’s too weak to drop fang.”

Brooklynne didn’t even think as she lifted her wrists to Pam’s face and the vampire bit her almost as quickly. As the human-fairy hybrid started to feed the Viking her blood, Pam started to look for the key of the cuff that was still around Eric’s wrist.

“Thank God, the key,” she said as she took it out of the inner pocket jacket.

She went around the bar to get some gloves that will allow her to touch silver and hurriedly removed the cuffs from her maker.

Brooklynne watched as Eric’s injuries slowly healed and disappeared. He seemed to regain consciousness as well and she jumped slightly when he put his hand on her wrist and started to drink faster.

“You’re gonna be okay,” she whispered to him, though more for herself than for him.

His eyes opened wide and she gave him a small smile as he looked up at her.

“You’re gonna be okay,” she repeated as she started stroking his hair.

His face wasn’t completely healed when he pushed her wrist away, making both her and Pam frown.

“Where’s Russell?” were his first words.

“Outside,” Brooke answered with confusion, “why?”

“We need to bring him in.”

Pam and Brooke arched their eyebrows as they looked at each other in surprise, then back at him.

“Are you insane? Why?” Pam asked.

“Godric appeared to me and asked me to spare Russell.”

Pam raised an eyebrow and gave an angry look to her maker.

“You _are _insane.”

“Brooke?” he asked, as he knew he wouldn’t get what he needed from his progeny.

“You want me to go get the guy who wants to kill us all and bring him inside? Really?”

She couldn’t believe nor did she want it. After all the trouble they’ve been through to get Russell right where he was right now, she couldn’t understand why Eric wanted to change the plan.

“Eric,” Pam said, “do the world a favor and let that little fuck fry.”

Eric rolled his eyes as he sighed before he stood up.

“I’ll go out there myself.”

“What?” Brooke breathed out. “No way, you’re not going back out there!”

“I’m not letting him die.”

“He would let _us _die,” Pam reminded him, “and laugh watching.”

“Godric told me only peace came after death. I’m not letting _Russell Edgington _find peace.”

“You were hallucinating!” Pam shouted. “It wasn’t real!”

Eric growled at her as he showed her his fangs in warning, startling her.

“Oh for the love of God,” Brooke said as she took the silver chains from the counter near her and exited the club under the eyes of both vampires.

Did she want to save Russell? Hell no, she would sleep better at night knowing he wasn’t walking this earth anymore, but she knew Eric wasn’t about to feed him all his bottles of Tru Blood to put him back in shape and let him go freely. No, Eric had a plan and she trusted him enough to know that even if he didn’t kill Russell, the three-thousand-year old psychopath wouldn’t walk this earth again any time soon.

“You’ve come back for me,” Russell managed to painfully say. “Thank you, sweet fairy.”

“Oh, shut up,” she replied as she wrapped the chains around his neck, causing him as much if not more pain than the sun.

She dragged him back inside, ignoring his screams of pain. Eric helped her chain him to a pole under Pam’s disapproving eyes.

“Explain to me, please, why we’re not killing him?” Pam asked with her eternal annoyed tone.

“Killing him won’t solve anything.”

“No,” Brooke nodded, “but it would keep him from killing us,” she said as a way to ask him his plan.

Eric looked up at her as he added another silver chain around Russell’s neck.

“Oh, he won’t be doing anymore killing,” he told her.

“Eric, who the fuck are you right now? He killed your family, rip off his fucking head!” Pam insisted.

“Do not listen to them,” Russell said. “I shall reward you handsomely.”

Eric punched him in the kidney, causing Russell to lose a fang.

“Well, that’s humiliating,” he smirked. “I’ll take that.”

“So what now?” Brooke asked.

“We should go to ground. You stay here and watch him.”

“You want me to babysit him?!”

“He can’t glamour you. Ginger’s coming in later, he would glamour her in a heartbeat,” he explained as he removed the blue gloves from his hands and threw them next to the remaining silver chains behind Russell.

“Eric,” Brooke said quietly as she took a step towards him. “What are you doing? What about the Authority?”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be rid of him in less than twenty-four hours.”

“Tell me your plan,” she asked. Though she trusted him, she’d feel better once she knew exactly what he had in mind.

“I’m calling Bill and Alcide. They’ll help me bury him somewhere tonight,” he explained as he trapped her chin between his fingers. “I’ll make sure he’s wrapped in a thousand silver chains. He will never get out,” he said, as a way to reassure her.

She looked down, then shook her head as she closed her eyes. A million thoughts crossed her mind. She knew Russell would be back one day, she knew it was a bad idea, but she also knew Eric was Eric, and there was no changing his mind.

“Make that a billion silver chains,” she said as she looked back up at him.

He chuckled. “As you wish,” he nodded before he kissed her forehead. “Call your sister, she must be worried.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” he asked with a confused frown as he tucked a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear.

“Because next time I see her, she’ll know about Bill. And I don’t want to break her heart.”

“Sookie’s strong. She’ll get over it.”

“I don’t know. She loves him. She wants to marry him.”

“And you’d rather she marry him than tell her the truth?”

“I’d rather she be happy….”

“She’ll know, one day,” he said. “Tell her now, before it’s too late.”

Brooklynne nodded sadly.

“It’s already too late.”

***

Talking to Sookie had seemed like the hardest thing to do and it certainly was hard but not as hard as walking through the cemetery in complete darkness with Eric and Bill to look for her sister.

“Sookie!” Brooke called in the cold night for what seemed like the hundredth time.

“I can’t feel her,” Bill said with desperation.

Brooklynne was only tolerating him because he could actually be useful in finding Sookie, but so far, he had only been a whiny useless heart broken little boy.

“How’s that possible?” Eric asked with a little anger in his voice. “She’s no doubt very upset right now, you should be able to feel her.”

“Well, I don’t!” he growled. “I felt her, I felt her anger and sadness and then nothing.”

“Is she dead?” Brooke asked in a whisper as if she didn’t want to even think about the possibility.

“I didn’t feel her die… she’s just… she’s just gone.”

“Maybe she’s with Jason,” Brooke said, completely ignoring the vampire. She didn’t want to hear it anyway.

“Well, Bill,” Eric sighed, “maybe she just doesn’t want you to find her.”

“Oh, shut up, Eric,” Bill snarled. “This is your fault!”

“How is it my fault?”

“You told her about Sophie-Anne!”

“I told her the truth. It’s not my fault you’re untrustworthy.”

“Jason hasn’t seen her,” Brooke said as she put her phone back in her pocket. “What are we gonna do?”

“Don’t worry,” Eric said as he put his hand on her shoulder. “She’ll come back. I’m sure she’ll be home tomorrow.”

***

**One year later**

“Damn, I’m glad to be home,” Brooke sighed as she let herself fall on the beige couch of the living room.

She looked up to the clock on the wall and sighed again as she saw it was almost dawn.

“It was Bill,” Eric said as he came in the living room, putting his phone back in the inside pocket of his black leather jacket. “He thanks you for your ‘assistance’ and the money will be here tomorrow, in cash.”

“Great,” she muttered as if she didn’t care. “You hungry?”

“I had enough of you on the plane,” he grinned as he leaned over to kiss her.

She smiled back as he put his lips on hers and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“The sunrise’s in less than five minutes,” she reminded him between two kisses.

“I’m not tired. Are you tired?” he asked playfully.

“Not anymore,” she replied before biting her lower lip.

He scooped her up in his arms and made his way to the fake wardrobe behind the couch that was installed eight months earlier when they renovated the house. He opened it as quickly as he got down in the room they built for him so he could spend the day in the house safe from the sun.

She giggled as he reached the ground and laughed again when he threw her on the bed. The room was like a bedroom from another time, with an old dark red wallpaper with bronze and golden flowers scattered on it, and wooden furniture everywhere.

She removed her shirt as she sat up while he joined her on the bed, placing a knee on the mattress. She grabbed his shirt and tore it open, causing the buttons to fly away and fall on the bed and on the ground. Eric threw his shirt away before he captured her lips once again, pushing her down on the mattress. Her hands traveled down his chest to find the button of his jeans. She undid it quickly before she slid her hand in his underwear.

“Mmh, someone’s in a hurry,” he smirked.

She wrapped her fingers around his length and started to make sure he’d soon be in a hurry too. She was extremely impatient, and he was a monstrous tease. He growled before he removed the rest of his clothes and she watched him do it with a wicked grin as she removed the rest of hers.

“I’m gonna fuck you till you pass out.”

She bit her lower lip again, the way she knew he liked it.

“Yes please.”


	17. Chapter 17

The air conditioner was silently keeping the house at a reasonable temperature while the sun was hitting hot on the outside walls. Eric’s room in the basement would have been a dark furnace if he hadn’t had the brilliant idea for the air conditioner. But even without it, his body was so cold Brooke could just snuggle into his arms and be just fine.

It was a warm day in Louisiana, a day like any other day ever since Sookie had disappeared twelve and a half months ago. A day like any other ever since Bill had killed Sophie-Anne and become the new King of Louisiana. A day like any other ever since Eric moved in with Brooke and renovated the house. A day like any other ever since Jason had joined the police.

Every day was spent in the dark and Brooklynne ever so rarely saw the sun ever since she and Eric had started working for Bill. It was an adjustment to say the least, as all three of them hated each other. But Bill’s relentless efforts to find Sookie had reconciled them and their shared grief had made them somewhat friendly, if not friends. Eric never got over it, however, he who was so used to being Bill’s boss. But all three of them knew what really happened that night, the night Sophie-Anne died the True Death. The Authority used Bill as a mere weapon to unofficially kill the Queen of Louisiana for selling vampire blood, and Bill, of course, played the game, not only for the throne he got in return, but to keep both Sookie, wherever she was, and Brooklynne safe. He had sworn any vampire who knew about the two hybrid sisters would die, and Eric had joined him in that pledge. And even though Bill never hid the pleasure bossing Eric around procured him, it was a respectful relationship, and Eric knew better than to disobey or question orders anyway, not that any of Bill’s orders were to be questioned, he had always been a reasonable vampire, and his new title hadn’t changed that.

Days passed and stayed the same, between a newfound happiness and a never forgotten loss, as Brooklynne found herself looking out the window every day, hoping to see Sookie sunbathing on the lawn. But all she saw anymore was Jason, in his police uniform, park in the new driveway Sookie had always wanted, and walk across the lawn to enter through the back door, like he used to do when Adele was still alive.

Jason came by several times a week, for breakfast or lunch, rarely for dinner, as, even though he would never admit it, Eric intimidated him. Brooklynne often thought about that time Jason had insisted to have ‘the talk’ with the Viking, and despite Brooklynne’s reluctance and warnings he had come to dine with them one night, looked Eric dead in the eyes and told him he’d kill him if he ever hurt his sister, just like he should kill Bill for what he did to Sookie. Eric humored him, simply nodded and hummed, as he finished his bottle of Tru Blood. A smile always appeared on Brooke’s face whenever she thought about that night, a smile resembling the one Eric had while he was listening to her brother’s threats.

No, Sookie was never sunbathing on the lawn whenever Brooke looked out the window. She could only see Sookie’s yellow Honda which she had well taken care of for twelve and a half months. It was parked next to her new car which she had bought herself with the money she had earned working for Bill. She didn’t know if Bill just wanted her to like him or if that was the usual paycheck he gave everyone else, but Bill had been more than generous with her. And she was too proud to refuse any of it. She was proud to have a driving license, she was proud to have a job, she was proud to have a boyfriend, and she was proud to be happy. All of it had seemed impossible not so long ago. Her life was nothing, she was a burden on others, she couldn’t take care of herself but now, now she was strong and free. Now she could be proud, and she knew Adele would be proud too, so would Sookie.

It was almost 4PM and Brooklynne was half awake in Eric’s arms. She enjoyed the quiet, she enjoyed the cool temperature of his naked body, and enjoyed the memories of their early morning activities. She was wet all over again just thinking about it. They were enjoying their time off as it seemed Bill hadn’t needed them in a while, and they easily got used to their new routine, between spending half of their free time in bed, and the other half in Fangtasia, where Pam often reminded Eric that he still had a business to run. Bill might be King of Louisiana, but Eric was still king in Fangtasia, and every king needed a queen. Brooklynne never complained when he made her sit on his lap, like he had that first night they met. They sat there for hours just talking, laughing, playing, kissing… until kissing led to an activity that required privacy.

Brooklynne’s life seemed perfect, and she would only complain about one thing, though she kept it to herself, it was something that could remain unspoken and never forgotten, something everyone around her knew, something they too would complain about. It didn’t need to be talked about, it was always there, in the air, like an invisible presence, the weight of someone that should be there but just wasn’t. The weight of the mystery. She often wondered if that was the worst part, the not knowing. The hope she had felt in the beginning slowly fading away, always trying to find new ways to revive it. A hope that died just as fast as it killed her inside, gradually eating at her, like a disease. Because when hope was gone all she was left with was guilt. The guilt that came when hope was lost like it was her fault if Sookie was gone, like it was her fault for not finding her. A guilt that attacked her guts when at the end of the day, she realized she hadn’t given her sister a thought. The guilt that came when she remembered because it meant that she had forgotten. The guilt that came and made her beat herself up for being happy while her sister was missing and probably dead.

Eric awakened suddenly from his dead sleep. Early, too early. She felt his fingers tightened around the skin of her arm and she looked up, surprised to see his eyes were opened.

“You okay?” she asked softly.

He sat up and she imitated him as she brought the thin sheet up to conceal her bare chest. She could tell by the look on his face that something was wrong, and it was those moments that made her wish she could read his mind. But at that moment she could only try to read his face and was confused by what she saw. Hope. It looked like surprise, and hope.

He looked down at her with soft eyes, and she could tell he wanted to say something but didn’t dare do it as if it would make it untrue, make him wrong, bring them bad luck. He hesitated for a short moment, perhaps looking for the right words, before he finally answered.

“Someone’s here.”

***

The hope Brooklynne had found in Eric’s eyes was heavy in her heart as she climbed the ladder of the cubby and opened the door of the fake wardrobe. The orange light of the sunset lit the room poorly and Brooke brought a hand to her face to shield her eyes from it.

“Hello?” she called with a broken hope.

“Brooklynne?”

Her heart jumped inside of her chest as she heard the voice she had longed to hear for over a year now.

“Sookie?” she breathed out, more to herself as her sister couldn’t have heard her from the other room.

Sookie was here. Sookie was home.

She hurried across the living room and found her sister standing in the kitchen with a confused look on her face… and the same clothes she had disappeared in.

“Oh my God.”

“Brooklynne…” Sookie said as she turned around and looked everywhere with a confused look. “What the hell happened to the house?”

***

“I’ve been gone for a year?”

“Twelve and a half months, actually,” Brooklynne corrected her. “And… you say you’ve been to… fairyland…?” she asked, as she put an open can of lemonade down on the table, in front of her sister before sitting down across from her.

“I swear it felt like ten, fifteen minutes at the most!”

“Sook…”

“The place where I went… time just works differently!”

“And Granddaddy was there?”

“Yeah,” she nodded sadly as she put a watch on the table. It was an old pocket watch, gold plated, like the one Adele had given her husband decades ago. “He wanted me to give it to Jason…”

“I…” Brooklynne shook her head as she took the watch. Tears appeared in her eyes as she read the engravings inside it _‘To Earl, With Love, Adele’._ “Where is he?”

“He… he’s gone… I’m sorry…”

“I don’t understand… what happened?”

“Barry was there too, remember him from the hotel in Dallas?” she asked, and her sister nodded. “I think the fairies are kidnapping us, you know, hybrid fairy humans, and… they’re making us eat this fruit, this… Lumiere Fruit… I didn’t eat any of it but… Granddaddy had been there for so long… he ate a lot of it… he couldn’t leave… he died when we got back here… he died near Gran…”

“Oh, okay,” Brooklynne sniffed, “that’s good at least… they’re together now.”

“He never abandoned us. They’ve been kidnapping us!”

“How did you get back?”

“This fairy… he helped me. I just… I wished he could’ve helped Granddaddy sooner…”

“I hope he didn’t suffer.”

Sookie hesitated, but Brooklynne didn’t see it. “It was quick.”

“Good.”

“What happened to this place?” Sookie then asked as she got up, gesturing around the kitchen.

“Uh,” Brooke cleared her throat as she wiped a tear off her cheek. “We renovated.”

“We? Did Jason move in?”

“No… um…” Brooklynne paused. Sookie wasn’t going to like this one bit. “Eric moved in.”

“He what?” Sookie said loudly with not just surprise but irritation too.

“He moved in like ten months ago,” Brooke shrugged. “We’ve been working together and… things just happened.”

“You’ve been working for him? What does he make you do?” Sookie asked with suspicion in her voice.

“I don’t work for Eric,” she corrected her, “I work _with _Eric. For Bill.”

“For Bill?” Sookie repeated with confusion.

“Yeah… there’s… a lot that happened.”

“Like what? Tell me,” she demanded as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Brooklynne took a deep breath. “Bill became King of Louisiana.”

A laugh escaped Sookie’s lips. “What?”

“The Authority wanted to kill Sophie-Anne, you know, for selling V. So they asked Bill. They said they’d make him King, and they did. But… you know… that’s not why he did it.”

“Sophie-Anne knew about us,” she realized.

“He did it to protect us. To protect you.”

“Even though I was gone…”

“We looked for you everywhere, Sookie. We never stopped looking for you we just… didn’t know where to look anymore.”

Sookie sighed as she sat back down at the kitchen table. After a moment of silence, after she tried to register all the new information, she finally asked: “What else did I miss?”

***

Jason arrived about fifteen minutes later. After a couple of long hugs and confused questions, they just started telling Sookie random events that had happened in the last few months. Arlene had her baby, a boy, his name was Mikey. Jessica and Hoyt moved in together. Tommy, Sam’s little brother, had basically been adopted by Mrs. Fortenberry after she and Hoyt had completely abandoned each other. Tara, sadly, had left Bon Temps.

They were interrupted by the apparition of Eric in the kitchen. Jason straightened up as he realized the vampire was standing right behind his chair.

“Sookie,” he merely greeted her with a nod. “Glad to see you are unharmed.”

She shrugged. “Thanks…”

“Sookie… the sun went down…” Brooklynne reminded her.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door.

As Brooklynne saw her sister didn’t move, she asked: “Do you want me to…”

“No,” she cut her off. “I’ll get it.”

Her siblings watched her walk out of the kitchen with no intention whatsoever to get themselves in the middle of their sister’s vampire business.

Brooklynne stood up and made her way towards Eric who welcomed her with opened arms. She slid her left hand behind his back and looked up at him with a small smile.

“How much of that did you hear?”

“All of it,” he grinned.

She nodded. “I can’t believe it…”

“I don’t blame you… A fairy world? We couldn’t have guessed it.”

“I could’ve,” she said. “I’ve been there.”

“But not physically. Not where she was. You never told me about any queen…”

“I never knew about any queen,” she scoffed. “I can’t believe fairies are kidnapping us…”

“Well, they can try kidnapping you, it’s the last thing they’ll do.”

“Mmh,” she chuckled. “I’m not going anywhere with any fairy,” she reassured him. “Not even if they have glowing fruits in their vans.”

Eric’s laugh was cut short as he was distracted by something happening outside.

“What the fuck?” Jason breathed out as he stood up from his chair.

They followed him outside where they found Bill standing on the porch, and Andy Bellefleur yelling at Sookie.

“We dragged the fucking lake for you! Where the hell did you go?”

“Hey!” Jason stopped him as he put himself between his sister and his boss.

“She was working for me,” Bill replied to the question that wasn’t aimed at him. “Vampire business.”

“Wha- are you kidding me? What kind of vampire business? For a whole year you swore you had no idea where she was!”

“I deeply apologize for misleading you, sheriff,” Bill started to say as he walked Andy back to his car, feeding him fake apologies and false excuses.

“Well, here’s you alibi,” Eric joked humorlessly.

“Could you… leave me alone with Bill for a second, please.”

No one hesitated as Jason led Andy back to his car and Brooklynne took Eric by the hand and dragged him back inside the house.

“I can’t believe she’s back, just like that,” Brooke said as she sat with him on the couch in the living room.

“All our efforts seem useless now,” he nodded in agreement as he put his arm around her shoulders.

“It never felt like it was enough…”

“You did everything that you could, and more than that.”

“Do you mind if we stay here tonight? I don’t feel like going to Fangtasia…”

“Of course, I’ll call Pam,” he said before he got up.

“Thanks.”

“Anything for you,” he winked before he disappeared.

An unintentional smile appeared on Brooke’s face as she could already hear Pam complain and fake her excitement about Sookie’s return.

Finally, everything was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I hope you liked it!


	18. Chapter 18

Spending the entire night with Jason and Sookie, cuddled in blankets, drinking hot coco with marshmallows… all of it seemed like a distant dream. A dream Brooklynne had had multiple times in the past year, once she thought would never happen again.

It was as hard for Sookie to get back to real life as it was for Brooklynne. Everyone in Bon Temps was so happy to not only hear about her return but also to see her again. The excuse Bill gave the police was very useful to shut anyone who was a little too curious. Of course, not everything was easy, and now that Sookie was back, it was a hard adjustment for Eric and Brooke to have a new roommate. So hard, in fact, that after only one day, Eric suggested they get a place of their own. A suggestion which, to her own surprise, she didn’t find uninteresting.

“Anywhere but Bon Temps,” Eric whispered so close to her hear she managed to hear him despite the terrible and terribly loud music playing in the club.

“You mean Shreveport,” she chuckled as she slid a hand in his hair, gently bringing his face to hers.

As per usual, she was sitting on his lap, on his ‘throne’. She had learnt to ignore the dozen pair of eyes, human or vampire, that were fixed on them for the entirety of the night. They were different, depending on their species. Mortals envied her. The undead judged him. Silently, of course. They knew what would happen if their sheriff caught them talking ill of his human.

The humans outside, however, weren’t so quiet or discreet about their judgmental ideas and hate. Steve Newlin’s following only grew bigger every day, ever since Russell went crazy on live TV, and a portion of it from Louisiana reunited every night in front of Fangtasia to spew their hatred all over its customers, be they vampire, or human. It did scare away most of the mortal clientele, though Fangtasia had been around for a while, and had, fortunately for business, loyal customers.

“What’s wrong with Shreveport?”

“What’s wrong with Bon Temps?”

He smirked. He liked it when she was challenging him. Always reminding him how perfect she was for him.

“We’d be close to Fangtasia. We wouldn’t have to fly here every night.”

“I like to fly,” she shrugged.

“Oh, I know you do,” he said with a grin.

“So, what do you want? To build a home under the club?”

“I would hate that as much as you would. I had an apartment in mind.”

“An apartment?”

He nodded. “UV protected windows, with a view…”

“Mmh… that doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Wait until you see the view.”

“I don’t care about the view. As long as we’re together.”

She pulled him to her, his lips crashing onto hers. That was how the night almost always ended, except when a dumbass decided to get into a fight with the other dumbasses outside.

“Eric.”

The Viking chose to ignore his progeny, hoping she’d get the hint and leave them alone.

“Eric.”

“Not now, Pam,” he said between two intense kisses.

“We have a problem.”

Brooklynne moved away, both annoyed and frustrated, making the vampire growl.

“What is it?” he snarled.

“Some idiot outside got into a fight with the other idiots outside.”

“Can’t you handle it?”

“It’s Hoyt, Eric. Jessica’s human? The _King_’s progeny? Rings any bell?”

Eric sighed as he tried hard not to roll his eyes.

“Go, it’s fine,” Brooke told him, not even trying to hide her disappointment.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he said before he stole another kiss from her.

“Oh, I know,” she smirked, not wanting him to leave in such a bad mood.

He chuckled as he got up, letting her slide gently onto the chair. Oh, how it made him feel to see her sitting there. She was never sexier than in his chair. She watched him leave, wiggling her fingers as he turned to her one last time. Left alone, she looked around the room, still feeling the eyes of the people there, humans still wishing they were in her position, vampires unhappy about their mortal queens. But as unhappy as they were, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind, that she was, indeed, their queen.

***

Wrapped in Eric’s large grey shirt, Brooke was sound asleep in their bed, in the cool of his arms. She couldn’t remember the last time she got up before noon, but she was always awake before Eric, who only opened his eyes at sundown. She awoke particularly early that afternoon and she would usually stay in bed and go back to sleep but since Sookie was back she had been getting up sooner to spend as much time as possible with her before she had to leave for Fangtasia. She rubbed her eyes as she yawned, another hour of sleep wouldn’t have been so bad.

She didn’t bother dressing up and climbed the ladder carefully. She knew she could make all the noise in the world and it wouldn’t wake the vampire up, but she always tried to be considerate. Human habit.

She shielded her eyes from the sun of the early afternoon as she opened the doors of the fake wooden wardrobe. She heard voices coming from the kitchen and wondered who Sookie could’ve been with as she knew Jason was working. Besides, it sounded like a woman’s voice. It sounded like…

“Tara,” Brooklynne smiled as she stepped into the kitchen. “What are you doing here?” a laugh escaped her as she went to hug her old friend.

“Hey Brooke, you’re up late,” Tara chuckled as she hugged her back.

“Or early, considering she went to bed at 6,” Sookie said with a grimace.

“Don’t tell me you spend your nights with that vampire,” Tara scolded the young telepath as she saw the logo of Fangtasia on her shirt.

“Her nights and her days,” Sookie informed her friend, “he lives here now.”

“He what?”

“Eric moved in months ago,” Brooke said as she made her way to the fridge.

“Are you telling me that psychopath who kidnapped and tortured Lafayette for weeks lives in this house?”

Brooklynne paused.

“First of all, he apologized for that, he even gave him a car. Second of all, yes, Tara, my boyfriend lives with me… in my house.”

“Lafayette’s terrified of that motherfucker, he can give him all the cars in the world it won’t change a thing!”

“And… this is still my house,” Sookie said.

“Actually… it isn’t,” Brooke wrinkled her nose. “The deed’s in my name now… I signed the papers and everything…” she continued as she closed the fridge, a bottle of orange juice in one hand.

“What?” Sookie breathed out as if she had just been punched in the heart.

“Legally I had to… since you were gone for so long… I’m sorry,” she shrugged. “But it’s still your house. It’s always gonna be your house. And Jason’s.”

“Great,” Sookie threw her hands in the air, “good thing I came back or you’d have sold my car next.”

“That’s not fair,” Brooklynne replied, offended. “I took care of your car, I took care of all your stuff.”

“I’m not staying one more second here, I don’t want your _boyfriend _to think I’m his dinner,” she said as she practically jumped off her chair and made her way to the back door.

“Tara, wait!”

“He’s not gonna hurt you,” Brooke called after her, but Tara wasn’t listening.

Sookie gave a disappointed and disapproving look to her sister before she went after her friend. Brooke shrugged, walked up to the shelf where they kept the glasses and poured herself a full glass of orange juice. She mumbled something as she brought it to her lips.

“And a good day to you to.”

***

Sookie was obviously mad when she came back. Tara had just come back from New-Orleans to see her and they had already been in a fight. It all made Brooklynne seriously reconsider Eric’s offer to move in that apartment in Shreveport, the one with the great view. Fortunately, the two sisters didn’t get the opportunity to argue about Eric again, as the phone rang as soon as she came back in the house, having failed to convince Tara to stay a little more.

“Who was it?” Brooklynne asked before taking another sip from her glass.

“Andy,” she sighed. “Jason didn’t come to work this morning and he’s not answering his phone.”

“Did he check his house?”

“He asked me to do it,” she answered as she took her car keys from the counter.

“Want me to come with…”

“No.”

Brooklynne silently watched her sister exit through the back door and quickly get into her car. After Sookie was gone, she washed the dishes, then took a long and cold shower, wondering what she should do while waiting for the night to come.

***

Brooklynne’s denial of Jason’s situation unnerved Sookie more than anything. Though Eric acted as usual, detached from any feeling and showing no particular worry, he did find it strange too. Maybe it was too hard for Brooklynne to even imagine that another one of her siblings was missing again out of nowhere with no clue as to where to find them. Or maybe it was just as she said, optimism and trust. Jason would come back. Like Sookie did. Eric didn’t dare say aloud what both he and Sookie thought: hopefully, it wouldn’t take a year.

“He’s probably with a girl,” she said to her sister. “He’ll be back in a week.”

Jason’s disappearance had one positive effect, at least, Sookie and Brooklynne weren’t arguing about Eric anymore. Especially since Eric had said he’d order some vampires to look for their brother. Sookie appreciated it, even if she wouldn’t say it aloud. But there was something else that bothered the eldest telepath, something that had been bothering her ever since she had come back from Alcide’s.

“Wasn’t he happy to see you?” Brooklynne asked as she put a plate down on the table.

“He was very happy to see me,” Sookie answered as she handed her the cutlery. She was cooking Adele’s famous sausage recipe, Jason’s favorite.

“Then what?” she insisted as she finished setting up the table.

“Debbie was there.”

“Yeah. They got back together a few months ago. She’s clean now.”

“Wait… you knew?”

Brooke shrugged. “Alcide helped us a lot when we were looking for you. We spent a lot of time together.”

“He kept whining about that V addicted werewolf who left him,” Eric said as he appeared from the living room.

“She needed help getting clean. Needed support,” Brooke continued as she gave a reproving look to the vampire. Eric ignored it and kissed her temple, a gesture she took as an apology. That was the best she’d get from him anyway.

“We’re out of Tru Blood,” Sookie informed the vampire.

“I know,” he told her as he slid his hands on Brooke’s waist, gently bringing her back to his chest before placing a kiss on her neck, where two puncture wounds could be seen.

Sookie grimaced as she turned around and got back to the stove where the sausages were about to burn. Brooke smiled before she put a kiss on Eric’s lips. She meant to get the glasses from the shelf, but Eric had something else in mind. He didn’t let her go from his arms and captured her lips, tightening his hold on her.

“Could you not?” Sookie sighed. “We’re about to eat.”

“I’m about to eat too,” he smirked, making her roll her eyes.

“Stop it,” Brooke giggled, wiggling out of Eric’s arms. “I’m not your dinner,” she playfully punched him in the arm.

“No?” he asked with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

She smiled back, bit her lower lip, then tiptoed and wrapped her arms around his neck before whispering in his ear.

“No, I’m your dessert.”

“Mmh, I like that.”

“Ew, stop it,” Sookie begged.

“You didn’t even hear what I said,” Brooke told her.

“I can read your mind, remember?”

“Then stay out of my head.”

As Sookie put the pan in the middle of the table, dinner being ready to be served, Eric’s phone started to ring.

“I thought Fangtasia was closed tonight,” Sookie said as she sat down.

“Fangtasia is never closed,” he told her before putting another kiss on Brooke’s forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

Brooklynne sat across from Sookie and started eating, every bite reminded her of her grandmother, even the smell, as if Adele was right there with them.

“You’re the only one who can cook it perfectly.”

“It’s just sausages,” Sookie chuckled.

“Nothing new from Jason?”

“Afraid not… Andy said he’d file a missing person report tomorrow… I said he should have already done it but…”

“You know Jason… he’s just fooling around with a girl.”

“He hasn’t answered his phone in two days, Brooke.”

“So, it died,” she shrugged. “He’s too busy to notice.”

“I hope you’re right,” Sookie whispered, more to herself.

Eric stepped back in the kitchen with an annoyed look on his face. Though Sookie noticed, she didn’t bother asking him about it, she didn’t really care about his problems.

“What’s wrong?” Brooke asked.

“We have to go.”

“You can deal with your problems on your own, Eric,” Sookie told him. “Or ask Pam.”

“It’s Bill,” he said. “He has a job for us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Next chapter will be posted next Monday!
> 
> Have a good week!


	19. Chapter 19

Walking through the doors of Bill’s house, or as Eric called it: ‘royal castle’, Brooklynne wondered how weird it must have been for Sookie to step foot inside. It had changed more than their own house and was barely recognizable. Of course, Brooke had been there so many times she almost knew it like the back of her hand. She didn’t need for the human guards to lead her to the King’s office. At some point that summer she had spent days and nights helping Bill with a vampire crisis. Walking through the house made her miss the sun. Not just because of the fake windows, but Bill, perhaps in an attempt of modernizing his tastes, had decorated everything in black and white, and Brooke always thought Sookie would add a little color to it.

“Ah,” Bill said as they came in, as if he were impatiently waiting for them. He was sitting at his desk, pen and paper in his hands, and a worried look on his face. “Thank you for coming.”

“What’s so important, your Majesty?” Eric said, the way he always said those words, sarcastically.

“There’s a new coven in town.”

“Again?”

“Oh no, witches,” Eric sighed as he stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

“Based out of a Wicca shop, not far from here. We…” he paused, then stood up. “I sent a vampire to stop them, two nights ago. We only found him earlier tonight… he seems he’s forgotten… everything.”

“What do you mean ‘everything’?” Eric asked.

“His name, his past… He knows he’s a vampire but only seems to remember fragments of his human life.”

“So the witches cast a spell on him?” Brooke deduced.

“They’re necromancers,” Bill informed them. “They brought a bird back from the dead.”

“A bird?”

“Are you certain of this?” Eric asked, suddenly as concerned as his King.

“I had someone on the inside. You know what this means, don’t you?”

“If they can control the dead, they can control us,” he nodded.

“That’s why I need Brooklynne. I need her to ask Marnie if she knows how to undo the spell she cast two nights ago.”

“Can’t you glamour her?”

“Like I said. She’s a necromancer.”

“I’m not letting Brooklynne go in that coven alone.”

“She won’t have to. Marnie’s downstairs.”

“You kidnapped the witch?” Eric scoffed. “Just kill her.”

“I thought that would be the reasonable thing to do as well,” he said. “But Nan disagreed. We’re forbidden from killing her or any human.”

“Fuck her. Make it look like an accident.”

“Any vampire who kills a mortal will be sentenced to the True Death. Is that what you want?”

“It’s fine,” Brooke interrupted them. “I’ll go.”

“Wait,” Eric stopped her. “We don’t know what she’s capable of, she could cast a spell on you too.”

“She won’t go alone,” Bill told them. “I’ll send a human agent down with her.”

“Oh, thanks, I feel so much better now,” Eric replied sarcastically.

“I’ll be fine,” Brooke repeated. “I can read minds, remember? I’ll be out of there before she can say Bibidi-Bobidi-Boo.”

“You think she shares the same spell book as the fat fairy from Snow-White? It’s too dangerous.”

Brooklynne couldn’t help but laugh. “First of all, it’s the fairy godmother from Cinderella. Second of all, I’m not asking for you permission.”

“She brought a bird back to life, she’s not gonna give you a makeover for any ball. You could get seriously hurt.”

“Actually,” Bill cleared his throat. “The bird was only alive for a few seconds before it died again. I doubt Marnie is any threat to a mortal.”

“Your doubts aren’t good enough.”

“Eric,” Brooklynne sighed. “I’m going. I’ll be fine. Okay?”

He paused. He was not happy, he was not happy at all. But most of their missions started that way. They argued about how dangerous it was for her, but she always ended up doing it anyway.

“She gets paid double the usual, for the risk.”

Bill scoffed. “Yeah, for the risk.”

The King of Louisiana gestured a heavily armed agent, all dressed in black and bullet proof uniform, face hidden by a black helmet, to join them in the room.

“Like I said. She won’t go alone.”

***

The cells in the basement were all camera protected and Bill and Eric watched carefully on the computer screen as Brooklynne and agent 14 entered Marnie’s cells. All the rooms in the basement shared the same poor yellow lighting which Brooklynne hated. It was a pitiful attempt to produce fake sunlight and it gave her a headache more than anything else.

The witch was lying on the bed of the small room, and she stood up hastily as she heard the door open. She had long messy hair, a lost look on her face, and was dressed in a discolored light blue long sleeves shirt and a long green skirt which wiped the floor every time she moved. She looked like a witch, alright. An old and lonely lady whose gifts had marginalized her from the world her entire life.

“Good evening,” Brooklynne said with a smile as to not alarm her. “Marnie, is it?” she asked, but the witch just stared at her with confusion.

_“A human? They sent a human. What does she want, what is this?”_

Brooke escaped the witch’s confused mind as quickly as she had entered it.

“My name is Brooklynne Stackhouse. I work for the King of Louisiana. You have nothing to be afraid of.”

“You work for those… vampires?”

“I do,” Brooklynne nodded, keeping a pretty smile on despite Marnie’s visible disgust. “I just have a few questions for you, if that’s okay?”

_“She can’t glamour me, why did they send her, why not a vampire…”_

“Recently, a vampire entered the Moongoddess Emporium, your shop, right? He seems to have forgotten who he is. Was that your doing?”

“He attacked _us_!” she replied with an angered tone. “We started chanting and he left.”

“So you cast a spell on him?”

“It was a… a non-specific protection incantation,” she stuttered. “I barely remember what I said because he took a chunk out of my neck!”

“Vampires tend to do that.”

“We had assembled peacefully to practice our religion!”

“Do you know how to reverse the spell?”

“I told you… I don’t know what I said!”

_“Help me. Oh, I need you. Where are you? Help me. Please, help me.”_

“But now you know his memory is gone. Don’t you know how to fix it?”

“I have no idea… I’m… I’m sorry.”

And she meant it. She had not lied, not once. She was a pretty incompetent witch, and Brooke wondered if Bill’s concern wasn’t misplaced.

“Thank you, Marnie,” Brooke said before she turned around to leave.

“W-wait! Wh-… Can I leave now?”

“I apologize. It’s not my decision to make.”

***

“Are you sure?” Bill insisted. “She’s no threat to us?”

“She’s kinda insane,” Brooke said. “She kept asking for someone to help her… a… a witch, a dead witch. Apparently, she’s the one who cast the spell on your sick vampire.”

“Did she mention any name?”

“No, sorry.”

“Well… thank you, anyway.”

“Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.”

“You’ve done enough.”

“Can we go now?” Eric complained.

“Of course. Thanks again, for your help.”

Eric handed his hand to her which she quickly took, and he pretty much dragged her out of Bill’s office. As they stepped out, Bill’s cellphone started ringing and Eric rolled his eyes as he heard the vampire call for his human.

“Brooklynne, didn’t you say Jason was missing?”

“He’s not missing,” she corrected him.

“Well, Jessica just texted me. She found him badly hurt on the side of the road, right outside of Bon Temps.”

“What?”

“She and Hoyt dropped him off at his house. I thought you’d like to know.”

“Thanks Bill!”

“Of course.”

“I need to call Sookie,” Brooklynne told Eric. “I have to go. Now!”

***

Eric had left Brooklynne and Sookie at Jason’s house where they found Hoyt and Jessica waiting for them.

“Thank you for staying with him,” Sookie said as she joined them in the kitchen, behind the counter. “Is he okay?”

“I gave him my blood,” Jessica replied. “He should be fine.”

“Did he say what happened?”

“He hasn’t talked to us,” Hoyt shook his head. “He’s pretty freaked out, though. He… he looked like he fought with a bear or something.”

“A bear?” Sookie repeated with a dumb look on her face.

“We’ll let you take care of him now,” Jessica said as she slid her hand in Hoyt’s. “You can count on us if you need anything.”

“Thanks so much, Jess,” Brooklynne nodded.

“He’s in his bedroom,” Hoyt told them.

“I know,” both sisters replied in unison.

The usual awkward moment followed and passed quickly as Jessica dragged Hoyt out of the house. Once they were alone, the two sisters made their way to their brother’s bedroom where they found him pacing around shirtless.

“Jason?” Sookie called quietly. “Are you okay?”

“No,” he whined. “I don’t know. No,” he mumbled as he ran a hand through his hair.

“What happened? Hoyt said you were in pretty bad shape.”

“I… remember Crystal?”

“Your crazy ex-girlfriend?” Brooke asked with a raised eyebrow. “Sure.”

“She kidnapped me!” he said so loud it startled his sisters. “She… with her family… and they… they bit me!”

“They bit you?” Sookie frowned.

“And they scratched me!”

“I told you they were insane, but you never listened to me,” Brooke shrugged. “File a police report, get them arrested.”

“I… no I don’t care about that!”

“You don’t want to press charges?” Sookie asked. “I’ll do it for you. I’m not gonna let them get away with this!”

“No, you’re not listening to me!” he yelled. “They bit me!”

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about, Jason,” Sookie said.

“I’m not embarrassed! They bit me!” he repeated. “Oh, I’m so screwed,” he sighed as he let himself fall on his bed.

Sookie and Brooke looked at each other and shared the same thought.

“Maybe we should take you to the hospital? Did you hit your head?” Sookie asked.

“I’m fine!” he quickly replied as he sat up. “No,” he shook his head, “I’m not fine, I’m gonna turn into a werepanther!”

“A what?” Brooke breathed out.

“I’m getting the car,” Sookie said, ready to exit the room.

“I’m not crazy!” Jason stopped her. “My ex-girlfriend, she did this to me! And her werepanther tribe… they bit me! And they said I would turn into one of them on the full moon!”

“Oh!” Brooklynne realized. “That’s what it was about. I knew they were weird but I thought it was just because they’re father’s also their brother.”

Brooklynne had never met Crystal or any of her family, but she had seen them a few times around, and had always found their thoughts to be extremely bizarre. She just thought it was because they were poor kids raised between meth and V, who could barely read and knew nothing but their deranged family.

“Yeah, they want to make more werepanthers so they keep it in the family!”

“Gross,” Sookie grimaced. “Damn it, werepanthers? How does that even happen?”

“The same way shapeshifters and werewolves happened, I suppose,” Brooklynne said.

“But can you even become a werewolf, or a werepanther? Don’t you have to be born one?”

“I don’t know, if they went through all this trouble to make Jason into one of them maybe they know what they’re doing?”

“Guys!” Jason interrupted them. “When’s the full moon?”

“The full moon?” Brooke repeated. “That’s tomorrow night.”

Jason whined again as he dropped on his bed. “God help me.”

***

Eric had first thought Brooklynne was messing with him when she told him about Jason’s situation. But he came to realize that unlike what he had thought, he didn’t know all there was to know about the world, despite having been alive for over a thousand years. The vampire had agreed to help them watch over Jason, just in case he did turn into a werepanther, but Bill called as soon as the sun was set, and Eric had to leave for an emergency meeting. All the sheriffs of Louisiana met at least once a month at Bill’s, but this meeting came too early and it could only be about Marnie. “Bill worries too much,” Eric had said, and so far, Brooklynne couldn’t really disagree with that statement.

Left alone in the cool night, Brooklynne met with her siblings at her former parents’ house. Sookie was armed with a shotgun, at Jason’s request.

“The second I start sprouting fur, I want you to shoot me right in the head.”

“I’m not gonna shoot you,” Sookie chuckled.

They were sitting between two trees, on the old patio chairs that had been through many summers and winters outside and were probably a heavy weight away from breaking.

“But you promised!”

“We promised we’d take care of you,” Brooklynne reminded him.

“What do you think that meant?” he yelled. “Change my kitty litter? Guys, I’m gonna have claws and big fucking teeth! I could rip you to pieces.”

“So can vampires and we’ve survived this long,” Brooke said. “Besides, what makes you think you won’t be able to control yourself once in… panther form?”

“I don’t know! And you don’t know either! I ain’t never been good at controlling my impulses! Come on!”

“You’re still our brother, even if you are a were…” Sookie paused, she couldn’t say it, it was already hard not to laugh when she heard it.

“Panther,” Jason sighed.

“Right,” she rolled her eyes. “Every time I get my head wrapped around one kind of supe… new ones come along. Werepanthers… witches…”

“Kinda makes you wonder what else there is out there… Maenads… mermaids… Gods…”

“Mermaids are real?” both Sookie and Jason asked in unison.

“I don’t know,” Brooke shrugged. “But would it surprise you?”

“No, not really,” Sookie sighed as she laid back in her chair.

“Bright side, you won’t be alone,” Brooke told her brother.

“I barely know any regular humans anymore,” Sookie realized.

“Hoyt, Tara, Arlene, Terry, Lafayette…” Jason started to count them on his fingers.

“Lafayette’s a witch too,” Brooke told them. “Or some kind of magic creepy stuff.”

“How do you know?” Sookie asked.

“Holly told me.”

“Holly? The waitress?”

“Yeah,” Brooke chuckled. “She’s a wicca too. But witches are just humans using magic. Anyone can do it. Some people like Lafayette just have special gifts is all.”

“Right,” Sookie said, “so we know four people who aren’t supernatural.”

“Well, I like being a regular, old, all-American human,” Jason told them. “I don’t wanna be some freak of nature.”

“Like us?” Brooke said, laying back in her chair.

“No, that… that ain’t what I meant.”

“I know.”

“It’s okay,” Brooke shrugged.

“Most of my life, when I’d say my prayers at night, I’d wish to God to be normal. Then I realized there ain’t no such thing as normal,” she scoffed. “Everybody’s got something in them they’re ashamed of or… can just do without even trying.”

“Yeah, like I’m extra good at sex? And shooting?”

“Uh-uh,” Sookie nodded. Brooke silently chuckled. “But those ain’t the things that make us who we are. It’s what we do with them that really matters. Know what I mean?”

“Yeah…” he nodded, then shook his head. “Uh, no, not exactly.”

“You can’t run from what’s inside you,” she explained. “But it might be a blessing if you let it. And I’ll be happy to help you… _we_’ll be happy to help, right Brooke?”

“Of course! Dude… you may be able to turn into a panther, at will! That’s awesome!”

“You… you think so?”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah? … Yeah!”

It was easy enough to put any sorts of ideas in Jason’s head, even without using any of her powers.

“Are you guys hungry?” Jason asked.

“I can fix us some steaks,” Sookie said.

“Yeah, and… can you grab me a fresh one?” he asked, giving his empty can of beer to Brooklynne.

“Coming right up!”

Both sisters got into the house, leaving their brother alone for no more than two minutes, but when Brooklynne got back with a cold can of beer, she found nothing but three empty chairs.

“Motherfucker.”

***

“What are we gonna say when someone sees us walking through the woods with a shotgun?” Brooklynne asked.

“Why would we have to say anything? It’s Bon Temps, after all. And who’s gonna be walking through the woods at this time of night?”

“You mean on a full moon? Oh, I don’t know, werewolves, werepanthers…”

“Not funny.”

“Didn’t say it was…”

“Jason!” Sookie started calling again. “Jason! Please, just come home! We’ll deal with this!”

“Shh,” Brooklynne stopped, putting a hand on her sister’s arm.

“What?”

“Listen.”

For a moment of silence, all that could be heard were the usual forest noises from the wind in the leaves and the birds in the trees. But then, they heard something else. Something that sounded a little like footsteps.

“Sook,” Brooke whispered.

Sookie raised the weapon as she put a finger on the trigger and started aiming it at the bush where the sound was coming from.

“Jason?”

Someone came out from the other side of the bush, but it wasn’t Jason. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a white shirt underneath her black leather jacket.

“Debbie?”

“Hey Sookie,” the werewolf greeted. “Brooklynne.”

“What are you doing here, Debbie?” Sookie asked, not lowering the gun down.

“She’s with me.”

As soon as Alcide appeared before her, Sookie relaxed, and put the shotgun away.

“We’re on our way to a meeting with our new pack,” he said.

“See, told ya,” Brooke smirked. Sookie merely rolled her eyes.

“You guys really shouldn’t be wandering around like this,” Debbie said. “Full moon and all, never know what could be out here tonight.”

“No kidding,” Sookie replied dryly.

Brooke frowned as she realized her sister was fuming. Was it… jealousy? She smiled.

“You hunting something?” Alcide asked, gesturing at the weapon.

“Kinda,” Brooke half shrugged, half nodded.

“Hey!” Sookie breathed out as she realized they could actually be really helpful to them. “Werepanthers, they’re basically like werewolves, right, except cats?”

“Please tell me she did not just compare us to cats,” Debbie said angrily.

“Oh, she didn’t mean it as an insult,” Brooke told her. “She’s genuinely asking.”

“Sorry,” Sookie said. “It’s hard keeping track of which of y’all hate each other.”

“We tend to stick with our own species,” Alcide explained. “But most weres have got more in common with each other than they like to admit. Why you asking?”

“How does somebody become a were… whatever?”

“They don’t,” Debbie answered. “Unless one of their parents or both of them are full-blooded.”

“So if I got bit…” she started to say but then saw worry take over Alcide’s face and corrected herself, “uh, not me, per se, but if somebody I knew got bit…”

“There’s no way to turn a human into a were, if that’s what you’re asking,” Alcide told her. “It’s hereditary. Not a virus.”

“You sure about that?”

“Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

“You’ve already helped a lot, Alcide, thanks,” Brooke said. “Wanna tell me why we didn’t just call him first? Would’ve saved us a lot of trouble.”

“I didn’t think about it…” she shrugged. “And neither did you, so don’t start!”

“Well, thank you anyway,” Brooke thanked the werewolves again.

“Go shift, kill stuff,” Sookie told them. “Do whatever werewolves do. We got this,” she said as she grabbed her sister by the arm and dragged her back into the dark forest.

“Have fun with your new pack!” Brooke waved at them before she disappeared behind the thick bushes.

***

Sookie and Brooklynne never found Jason, though after filling his voicemail with messages and having walked through the woods for hours, both sisters decided to go home, knowing Jason wouldn’t be turning into a giant cat after all.

Brooklynne collapsed on the couch and it was moment like this she wished Eric was around so he could give her an energizing amount of his blood. Sookie had gotten into the shower, and Brooklynne was about to reach the stairs when the front door slammed opened, startling her.

She jumped, but quickly relaxed as she saw it was only Eric. However, her worry came back just as fast when she saw his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Turns out the witch means business.”

“What happened?”

“Luis is dead, he tried to kill Bill,” he said as he closed the door before making his way to the living room.

“Luis? The sheriff of area 3?” she asked as she followed him. “What got into him?”

“The witch. She’s a necromancer, she can control the dead.”

“Marnie made him attack Bill?”

“Not Marnie. She’s being possessed by another witch, a dead one. Her name is Antonia. She hates vampires, she’s already killed a lot of us back when she was alive. She made them rise during the day. Bill thinks she’s going to try it again, tomorrow.”

“What? She wants to make you meet the sun?”

“I’m gonna need your help,” he said as he took her face in his hands.

“Of course, what can I do?”

“I need you to silver me downstairs. No matter what happened, do not let me out of the chains.”

She nodded as she put her hands over his. “I know. I won’t.”


	20. Chapter 20

It was a hard day for both Eric and Brooklynne. The half-fairy had to silver the vampire and her heart squeezed more and more each time she heard his screams of pain. But that was nothing compared to the many hours that followed during which he fought and begged to be unchained. It was as if he was possessed, as if he had forgotten who he was and who she was too. All he wanted was to go out and meet the sun, and Brooklynne lived her afternoon in fear that he would somehow manage to escape the many silver chains she had put him under.

The entire vampire community of Bon Temps had never been more relieved to feel the moon rise in the sky. As soon as the sun had set, Brooklynne had thrown the chains away, ripped them off like bandages, freeing Eric from the constant pain which had saved his life.

Her blood healed him quickly, and though she wanted to spend the rest of the night with him, making him forget all the pain he had just gone through, they couldn’t stay in as Bill was waiting for them at his house, if Bill had survived the day, that is.

“One vampire? Are you sure?” Brooklynne asked Sookie as she found her sister watching TV in the living room.

“Yeah, only one vampire died today.”

“That’s already one too many,” Eric said.

“How come she didn’t chain herself?” Brooke asked.

“No one knew she was a vampire, apparently. She’s Maxine Fortenberry’s neighbor, _she_ would’ve known,” Sookie scoffed.

“So no one warned her,” Brooke guessed.

“Bill needs us,” Eric said as he took Brooke’s hand. “He’s gonna have to explain what happened to the media, and he’s gonna want to talk to that witch.”

Brooklynne nodded. “Let’s go.”

Sookie waved her sister goodbye before she took the remote and started changing channels. But, a few seconds later, she realized something that made her jump off the couch.

“Wait, what do you mean ‘talk to that witch’?!”

***

“Nice interview,” Eric said as Bill walked through the doors of his office, where he, Brooke and Sookie were waiting for him, along with the other sheriffs.

“Thank you, Eric,” Bill replied with as much sarcasm. His cocky smile disappeared, however, when he saw Sookie was there. “What are you doing here?”

“Eric said you were going after the witch. I wasn’t gonna let her come here alone.”

Brooklynne rolled her eyes. “I did fine ‘alone’ for a year, Sook.”

“And now I’m here to help,” she shrugged.

“I don’t need your…”

“Any help is welcomed,” Bill cut her off. “Especially against Antonia. She’s agreed to a meeting. Tonight.”

“She has?” Brooklynne raised an eyebrow. “I thought all she wanted was for all of you to die.”

“Indeed,” Bill sighed. “Which is why, even though I promised we’d meet alone, you all will be coming with me.”

“She won’t keep her promise either, anyway,” Eric said.

“I’ll offer her a peaceful resolution to our… problem. And she will refuse, I expect… Which will lead to…”

“A fight,” Sookie interrupted him.

“Which is why you shouldn’t be here,” Brooke mumbled.

“If you can be here, so can I.”

“I’ve been doing this for a year, Sookie, I know what I’m doing.”

“I have the same…” she paused, realizing there were other vampires around, vampires who didn’t need to know about their powers, “…abilities, as you. I can wield a stake just as well.”

“Bill…” Brooke whined, hoping he could stop her from coming. But the vampire misunderstood the situation.

“I will keep an eye on her, I promise,” he nodded.

Brooklynne opened her mouth but no sound came out of it, stunned. She looked up to Eric for help.

“I’ll look out for her too,” he promised, knowing, just like Bill, that there was no stopping Sookie.

“Urgh,” Brooke gave up. “Fine. What’s the plan?”

***

The plan. The plan had gone terribly wrong. In all the ways it could have, and even in ways no one could have ever imagined. As previously thought, Marnie/Antonia didn’t come alone, and even though they were outnumbered by Bill’s people, human and vampire, it appeared that Marnie had won this battle, and they had lost more.

In an effort of sparing human lives, despite _their_ efforts to kill all vampires present in the cemetery, Bill had lost control of his men, and Sookie got caught in the crossfire. Was she hurt by a wooden bullet from the witch’s side or by a regular bullet from Bill’s guards, no one knew. But she was hurt, and only vampire blood could save her. However, Bill was nowhere to be found. But unlike the vampire, a werewolf had appeared out of nowhere, to save the day. Or rather, the night.

“Alcide what are you doing here?” Brooklynne asked between two breaths, as she was running as fast as she could behind him. He was tall, he was strong, and it didn’t help that he was a werewolf too. He was twice faster than she was, even with a half-dead Sookie in his arms.

So, she ran, leaving Eric, Bill, even Tara and Holly behind in the cemetery. Though she was worried for all of them, she couldn’t help but feel more than irritated towards her human friends who were actively trying to kill her boyfriend.

“I heard about the meeting, I came to see if you had stayed out of it!”

“You came because you knew we hadn’t.” _“Where the fuck are Bill and Eric?”_ she cursed mentally.

As if summoned by her thoughts, a vampire passed them by suddenly, taking Sookie out of Alcide’s arms, making him trip over his own feet. He growled, unhappy by the vampire’s disrespectful actions towards him, hoping it would at least save Sookie.

“Who was that?”

“Didn’t see,” she replied. “Come on.”

He got to the house before she did but saw the same thing he did as she entered the living room behind him. Sookie, lying on the couch, Bill hovering before her, feeding her his blood. Her eyes were opened, and she already looked more alive than a few seconds before.

“Is she okay?” Brooke asked as she kneeled near the couch.

“She’ll be fine,” he said with a worried tone as if that wasn’t true at all.

“Then why you’re looking like she’s already dead?” Alcide barked at the vampire.

“It’s Antonia…”

“We should have killed her when we had the chance,” she mumbled.

“Brooklynne,” Bill started to say as he stood up with a grave look on his face. “She took the sheriffs.”

“What?”

“She’s controlling them. She’s a necromancer, remember? She left with the sheriffs. All the sheriffs.”

“All the… what?” she repeated in a weak voice as she started to understand.

“Brooke. She left with Eric. I’m sorry.”

It seemed like the air had left her lungs suddenly, all of it, at once, and was replaced by pure rage. Her hands turned to fists and her eyes turned to weapons as she drew a slow breath.

“I’m gonna kill that fucking bitch.”

***

Brooklynne fidgeted all day, sometimes pacing around, waiting impatiently for night fall, sometimes trying to calm herself down and stop herself from going to Moongoddess Emporium herself. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to save Eric in bright day light. It would be useless, and nothing more than a suicide mission to go out there alone. Sookie watched her sister closely all day long, and it’s only near the end of the afternoon that an opportunity arose for both sisters to do something useful, without the help of a vampire. For once.

Both sisters were confused when they found Debbie standing on their porch. Sookie almost had a heart attack when the werewolf took out flowers from behind her back, like it was a shotgun she was pointing at her chest.

“What are you doing here, Debbie?” Sookie asked awkwardly as she took the flowers.

“Can we talk?” the werewolf replied with a nervous smile. “About Alcide?”

“Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s fine,” Debbie waved away Brooklynne’s concerns. “So… can we?” she asked Sookie again.

Sookie hesitated, trying to ignore the flashbacks of the first and last time Debbie had come to this house and tried to kill her.

“Sure,” she attempted to smile. “Come on in.”

The three women sat around the table in the kitchen, all of them nervous, but for vastly different reasons.

“So… what’s wrong?” Sookie asked.

“I know Alcide came here last night.”

“Did he tell you?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know?”

“He had your blood on his shirt.”

“How do you know it was my blood?”

“I recognized the smell.”

Sookie grimaced. “Nothing happened last night… if… that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I… no,” she chuckled as she shook her head. “Alcide cares about you… And… I care about Alcide… And I know… I know it would mean a lot to Alcide if we got along… And I know you’re having some troubles right now… with witches… so I came to offer you my help… you know… so you can grow to trust me.”

“Debbie… you tried to kill me.”

“I know,” she nodded. “I was really fucked up back then and… nothing will change the fact that I tried to kill you… twice. And I would be crazy to think we can become best friends,” she let out a nervous laugh. “And I ain’t crazy… I just… want to be of service… so maybe someday we can all hang out together, with Alcide and all.”

Sookie wasn’t convinced, though Brooklynne had accepted Debbie’s apologies a long time ago, back when she had needed Alcide’s help to look for her sister.

“Let me listen to you,” Sookie said as she tried to grab Debbie’s hand.

“What?” the werewolf easily freed her hand from Sookie’s grip.

“Let me hear you,” the telepath insisted.

Unable to focus long enough to hear whatever Debbie was thinking, Brooklynne effortlessly stayed out of the werewolf’s head, but whatever it was, Sookie seemed to be satisfied with it.

“You meant it, when you said you wanted to help?”

“Yeah!”

“Brooklynne needs to wait for night fall cause Bill’s got this meeting at the town hall with a bunch of journalists and stuff, and they’re gonna go look for Eric afterwards.”

“You want me to go with you so you don’t have to wait?”

“The three of us won’t be able to take down Marnie,” Sookie explained, “or Antonia, or whatever her name is. But if we leave now, it’ll be nighttime when we get there.”

“You want to free Eric?”

“I don’t think I’ll know how to do that, but maybe I can hear what Marnie… Antonia, whatever, wants or is planning to do, so we can stop her.”

“Why isn’t Bill helping you with this? Can’t he cancel that meeting?”

“He tried,” Brooke said. “They Authority won’t let him.”

And, by the Authority, she meant Nan Flannagan, who, even if she had wanted to, couldn’t cancel that awaited event.

“But isn’t Eric _your _boyfriend?” Debbie asked. “Why aren’t you coming with us?”

“I signed a contract,” she sighed. “I’m working tonight. I’ll be making sure no human is even thinking about screwing this up to make the vampires look bad.”

“Nan promised to give resources to help find Eric and the other sheriffs if Brooklynne comes and helps them tonight.”

“And like she said… it’s just the three of us without them.”

“I see…”

“Don’t get my boyfriend killed,” she told her sister.

“I think she has other plans for him, we just need to find out what.”

***

The evening was going smoothly, with all participants, aside from a few idiots armed with cameras, hoping for a catastrophe to occur, on the same page. Vampires are good, vampires aren’t a threat, vampires deserve rights, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Nan had thought out the entire evening from start to finish. She found a perfect American girl from a good family with a blue headband in her pretty hair and a vampire sister. She gave her a speech and she gave her a mic and all she needed to do was talk about how vampires gave her her sister back when they came out of the coffin three years ago. Some tears here and there in the audience and voilà. The perfect flawless plan to gain some sympathy points.

Perhaps Brooklynne would have been impressed. Perhaps she would even have noticed how, in this event where they were supposed to celebrate vampires, only three vampires in total were present: Bill, Nan and Julie, the vampire sister. But Brooke was too impatient, and she was only waiting for it all to be over so they could go and tear that witch apart. And as of a few hours before the event even started, she had another thing to be worried about, as Sookie still hadn’t called or texted. She wondered how Bill was going to react once he knew where Sookie had gone.

The event was slowly coming to end as Nan finally gave the mic to Bill for a last speech. A speech she may not have written, but she had at least read and approved, for sure. But she had nothing to fear from Bill, and she knew it, at least on this matter. Bill was a loyal mainstreamer on whom she could count on to not fuck such an important event up. That was why she had made him King after all.

“What a wonderful night for a wonderful cause,” Bill started to say with a smile plastered on his face. “But make no mistake. There is still much work to be done, for history teaches us that war can sound a louder call to action than can peace. That a message of hate can seduce an impressionable mind far more readily than a message of love. Which means we must remain vigilant…”

“Bill!”

The vampire paused as he heard Sookie call his name. Brooklynne stood up from the chair she had been sitting on for almost two hours now and started looking for her sister hidden in the crowd, ignoring Nan’s next words.

“Oh, Jesus fucking Christ.”

“Sookie?”

But both Bill and Brooklynne were unable to find the telepath as they were distracted by screams and were now trying to locate the cause. As the room started to empty itself in a dangerous hurried mess Brooklynne looked up to find the three missing sheriffs holding three armed human guards by the spine above the balcony. They then proceeded to remove their heart and their lifeless bodies fell on the ground but not as fast as the sheriffs found their way downstairs, among the scared human crowd.

“Bill!” Sookie called again.

Brooklynne looked but could only see the sheriffs from area 1, 2 and 4. Eric was nowhere to be found.

“Bill! He’s coming for you!” Sookie shouted.

“Sookie!” Brooke called, hoping the ‘he’ wasn’t who she thought it was.

But there he was, standing at the balcony, his beige shirt stained with blood, his fangs out and menacing.

“Eric!” she called, but even if he had heard her his mind wasn’t his own at the moment.

The possessed Viking flew to the stage and grabbed the King by the shirt before sending him fly across the room.

“Eric!” she tried to get his attention, but even though they were a few feet from each other, he barely acknowledged her.

“Must kill the King,” he said before running off the stage and towards Bill.

Eric jumped on Bill who was on his knees. Unable to defend himself he felt Eric’s arms around his head and his hands on his neck and the True Death seemed closer than ever as he felt like his head would be removed from his shoulders in the next seconds.

“Let go of him!” Sookie yelled as she jumped on Eric and tried to get him off the King.

Of course, her efforts were futile as the vampire effortlessly pushed her away and she fell back on her ass, surprisingly surprised.

Nan was going around the room, stabbing the possessed sheriffs in the heart with sharp pencils while Marnie/Antonia and her human acolyte were still chanting up there on the balcony.

“Eric, stop it!” Brooklynne shouted as she finally joined them on the battlefield.

“Go home,” he growled.

But she had distracted him enough for Bill to free himself from the Viking’s arms. The King took out a small gun from his pocket which he used to shoot Eric.

“What are you doing?!” Brooklynne shouted.

“Get out of here, Brooklynne. Take Sookie. That’s an order!”

“Silver bullets…” Eric groaned as he got off the ground, the bullet falling from his bloody wound to the ground.

“Hell no! I’m not gonna let you hurt him!”

“I don’t have a choice!”

As she saw Bill was once again pointing the gun at Eric, the worst idea she ever had in her entire life crossed her mind. It was like a reflex, as if an object had fallen off and she tried to catch it before it reached the ground and broke into a thousand pieces. It was exactly like that, except this time the object was a bullet, and when someone tries to catch a bullet, they’re the one who break into a thousand pieces.

Brooklynne jumped even before Bill had the chance to pull the trigger. Even before either of them could hear Sookie shout. There had been so many warnings, so many reasons for Bill not to shoot, and yet, he did, and he would regret it for the rest of his immortal life.

It all happened at the same time, almost at the same second.

“Enough!” Sookie shouted. “No more!”

She threw her hands in the air as Brooklynne jumped between Bill and Eric. A powerful light came out of them and it enveloped the room, blinding everyone there for a few seconds. That was when Bill did it. That was when Brooklynne felt it, the hole in her body, the pain in her chest. That was when Eric recovered ownership of his mind, when Marnie/Antonia lost control over the only vampire left, when Roy cursed in both fear and amazement, and when Nan stared at Sookie like the fairy she now knew she was.

Brooklynne fell on the ground, maybe dislocating her shoulder in the process. Who cared? That pain was nothing compared to the fire in her chest. Her hands were hovering over her wound, too painful to touch, and yet they were still hot with her warm blood. Everything hurt. Even breathing hurt. She panted and gasped, trying to get some air in and out as the blood in her throat was blocking her airways. She thought she heard someone call her name, but a loud piercing noise was resonating in her ears. Her vision was bright and blurry. She could only see lights and shadows. She saw someone, Eric maybe, she wasn’t sure, then she felt a hand slid behind her back, lifting her up a little. She wished he hadn’t done that. That hurt. She thought she heard him call her name, maybe he did. Maybe it was someone else, maybe it was both of them. Someone else was there, now, before her. Another pair of hands were touching her. There was some yelling, some crying, some begging. Then, suddenly, she was lifted off the ground, scooped into strong arms, each movement more painful than the other.

Then wind.

Then cold.

Then darkness.

***

“Brooklynne!”

“What did you do?!” Sookie yelled as she ran towards her sister, joining Eric who was already with her.

“I… I’m sorry,” Bill breathed out, realizing what he had just done.

“No, no, no, no,” Eric said, lifting her body from the ground. “Brooke…” he bit his wrist, though knowing it would do nothing. She couldn’t swallow anything, she was choking on her own blood. “Stay with me,” he whispered as he stroked her cheek. “Don’t leave me.”

“Heal her, do something!” Sookie shouted at both of them. “Do something!”

“Brooke, stay with me,” Eric begged. “Don’t leave me,” he repeated over and over again, in a small voice, almost sweet that neither Sookie nor Bill had ever heard from him, but that Brooklynne knew well.

“No…” Sookie broke in tears as she fell on her knees near her sister. “I can’t lose her,” she cried. “I can’t lose her too.”

“I’m so sorr-“

“Shut up!” Sookie yelled at him. “Shut up! I never want to see you again! Just save her or leave!”

The King stepped back, heartbroken, as he knew only one way to save her, and that wasn’t for him to decide or to act upon.

“You’re gonna be fine,” Eric whispered to Brooklynne as a tear of blood fell down his cheek. He kissed her forehead before he slid his hand under her knees and stood up, scooping her up in his arms. “You’re gonna be just fine,” he repeated before he disappeared.


	21. Chapter 21

When Brooklynne opened her eyes, it was dark and cold. She didn’t know where she was, but she knew she wasn’t alone. There was a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, she knew it was Eric, but still, she couldn’t figure out where she was. She couldn’t breathe, but, oddly, she didn’t need to. There was something on her, all around her, everywhere, something cold, getting inside her clothes, her socks, her shoes… Was it… dirt?

Panic took over her and she tried to move, but couldn’t, making it worse. She realized she was buried in the ground and knew it would be difficult to get out of the hole on her own, she tried nonetheless. She crawled up with difficulty, for minutes that seemed like hours. Sometimes feeling like she was digging herself deeper in than out. Finally, she got out, her hands gripping the grass as she pulled herself up with a force she didn’t know she had, a force no human had.

She took a deep breath as soon as she could, dirt in her mouth, in her eyes, falling down from the top of her head… She fell on the ground, her chest coming in contact with the cold and humid grass. She coughed, and coughed again, but managed to sit up. She felt something warm and wet on her cheeks and quickly wiped it out with the back of her hand as she realized she was crying.

“Brooklynne.”

She jumped, startled, as she heard her name. She looked up but was blinded by the lights in the dark sky. The stars. She brought her hand to her forehead, trying to shield her eyes from the blinding lights, but they quickly got used to it, and she found Eric standing right in front of her.

“What did you do?” she asked with a trembling voice and angered tone. “What did you do?!”

“I’m sorry,” he quickly answered as he knelt before her. “I didn’t have a choice. You were dying.”

As he said those words, looking at her with fear, worry, and yet relief, she remembered her last moments before everything went dark. She remembered hearing a gun shot, she remembered the blood, she remembered the pain. She gasped and started crying again as she took it all in at once. She was dead. He had saved her life.

“You’re gonna be okay,” he promised her as he cupped her cheek with his hand.

She put hers over his, with unusual speed that surprised her. He moved his thumb over her tears, giving her a reassuring smile, which quickly turned into a frown.

“What? What is it?”

“Your tears… they’re… normal.”

***

To hell with Bill, to hell with Marnie, to hell with all of them. Eric and Brooklynne were probably needed, but they didn’t care. They needed time. She needed time. And a shower.

When she got out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but an old and discolored blue towel, her hair falling wet on her shoulders, she felt hungry, and worried. As she was now a living-dead, she shouldn’t feel hungry, not for human food anyway. She should be crying blood and craving human blood, but all she wanted at this moment was a big fat hamburger, with extra-bacon, and fries.

“Is it possible the… transformation went wrong?” she asked as she sat next to him on her bed.

“No. I did everything right. I was… I was afraid it wouldn’t work… I was afraid it was too late…”

“So… it’s because I’m a fairy, isn’t it?”

He shook his head, sighed, then nodded. “Probably. You were half-human, half-fairy. Now that…”

“Now that I’m dead,” she cut him off. “I’m half-vampire, half-fairy.”

“There are easy ways to find out.”

“I might actually be able to walk in the sun…”

“I’ve never heard of… hybrids, before.”

She chuckled, making him raise an eyebrow.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was a freak when I was human. And I’m still a freak as a vampire.”

“I wouldn’t call you a freak,” he said, as he took her hand in his.

“And what would you call me?”

“Probably the strongest creature out there.”

“Is ‘creature’ better than ‘freak’?” she asked with humor.

“We’re all creatures. And it is better. Especially since you’re the strongest one of us.”

“You don’t know that.”

“If you’ve kept your powers…” he paused.

“What is it?”

“Now that you’re a vampire… can you hear my thoughts?”

She frowned. She hadn’t thought about it, and maybe that meant she couldn’t. She was supposed to be stronger now, wasn’t she? Which meant her powers would be stronger as well. His thoughts hadn’t invaded hers, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to invade his.

_“If she’s half-fairy every vampire in the world will come for her, for her blood, they’ll come for the sun, they’ll come for her. They’ll come for her. They’ll come for her. They’ll…”_

She winced as she removed her hand from his.

“Did you…”

“Yes…”

“I should have thought about something else. I didn’t think you’d be able to…”

“It’s fine….”

A heavy silence took over the room as both of them thought of ways to keep each other safe. Only one solution seemed to be good enough, it had worked so far, after all.

He slid his hand down her back and rested it on her waist, bringing her closer to him. He placed a kiss on her temple before he whispered:

“You’re gonna be just fine.”

“Eric?”

“Mmh?”

“I’m not mad at you.”

He frowned, confused at first, then sighed, then chuckled as he understood.

“Would it be useless to ask you to stay out of my head?”

“Sorry,” she smiled, amused, and a little embarrassed. “I just can’t help it sometimes.”

***

Their unspoken agreement to keep Brooklynne’s abilities a secret left them with one last question to answer. Would she stay human to the eyes of the world, or would she be a vampire, stuck to live at night and renounce the sun, at least in parts?

While she was trying to figure out how she wanted the world to see her, she stared at her naked body in the mirror as she wondered who she wanted to be. Her fingers moved down her chest to her belly, only to get back up where a bullet hole should have been. She remembered the blood, the pain, but mostly, she remembered the chaos. She remembered feeling like she was dying, feeling like her life was ending when it had barely just begun. The weakness she had felt at that moment had since turned into rage, and all of it was directed in a certain witch’s way.

Eric appeared suddenly in the mirror, a towel wrapped around his waist. She watched as he leaned over and placed a kiss in her neck as he slid his hands on her belly.

“You okay?”

“No, not really.”

She saw sadness take over his face, but it only lasted a second, as an unusual unconfident smirk appeared in his lips.

“I thought you enjoyed our little… shower,” he said as he turned her around.

“I did. I always do.”

“What’s wrong then?”

She sighed before she slightly raised her arms to his chest, her fingers sliding up his skin.

“That’s not how I thought it would happen.”

“How what would happen?”

She looked up at him, her answer clear in her eyes.

“Oh,” he said, quite speechless. “I didn’t even know you… were thinking about it.”

“Of course, I was,” she replied as if his answer had offended her. “Of course, I was. Weren’t you?”

“I was too,” he nodded. “And the possibility of… _this_… happening… had crossed my mind.”

“What?”

“Our first job for Bill… I was terrified you’d get hurt. I was terrified I wouldn’t be fast enough to… save you. That’s not how I wanted it to happen. But I’m glad it did.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head and each second of silence was like a needle in his heart.

“Are _you_ glad it did?”

“I…” she sighed again. “I… I can’t… be happy about it… right now. Because of how it happened. Because… Because right now I just want to tear that bitch apart.”

There was a spark in his eyes, like she had just awakened something in him. He agreed, of course, and she knew that. Maybe she should have known he’d be proud.

“Eric, I want to spend eternity with you. I don’t want you to think I don’t. I just… I need to… get used to the idea that I’m not human anymore. I need to see what’s changed, how I’ve changed but… there’s something I know hasn’t changed, something I know will never change.”

“What is that?”

“My unconditional love for you,” she said as she took his face in her hands. “I love you. I wanted to spend eternity with you yesterday, and I still do now. You can never doubt that. Even if sometimes… I miss my human life.”

He smiled, relived, before he placed a kiss on her forehead.

“I love you too,” he whispered. “Now let’s go tear that bitch apart.”

***

It was around 3AM when Eric and Brooklynne stepped inside the King’s house. Bill was waiting for them, for her, with guilt written all over his face. Somehow she knew Bill would have been dead by now if he weren’t King of Louisiana. They stopped in the hall, all three of them, staring at each other in silence. Brooklynne wondered what pitiful excuses he was going to try and make, Eric just tried very hard to stop himself from committing treason and condemn himself to a certain True Death.

“Well isn’t this a happy reunion,” Pam said as she joined them from Bill’s office. “You’re still alive.”

“So to speak,” Brooke’s reply was as dry as Pam’s tone. The vampire smirked, surprising the fairy hybrid, who didn’t think her new ‘sister’ would be too happy about her new ‘condition’.

“Brooklynne I’m…”

“Sorry?” she cut Bill off. “Don’t even bother. You know, I wouldn’t even be mad if it had just been an accident. But you tried to kill Eric, and that, I’ll never forget. And I’ll never forgive you either, so don’t waste your breath. We came here to kill Marnie, and you owe us the backup.”

Bill’s sad eyes didn’t even make her flinch and the vampire nodded regretfully as he accepted her request.

“Where’s Sookie?” she asked.

“Home, I suppose.”

“She wasn’t there,” Eric said.

“You don’t know where my sister is?”

“I… I,” he stuttered. “She said she never wanted to see me again then left. I thought she’d be waiting for you at your house.”

“She might be with your brother,” Eric said in an attempt to reassure her, though he knew exactly what she was thinking. Sookie had gone for the witch, and she hadn’t come back.

***

Bill had called Jessica as backup and they left the house with an SUV filled with all sorts of automatic weapons. The red head had landed Brooklynne some black clothes, and the five vampires were inconspicuous as they walked down the empty road leading to Moongoddess Emporium, heavily armed.

“I’m so sick of silvering myself all day every day,” Jessica rumbled. “I’m pissed off all the time. This is what PMS used to feel like,” she continued, and Brooklynne was pleasantly reminded that she wouldn’t have to go through that anymore.

“Our objective is to kill the witch, finish this one way the other,” Bill said. “But we’re gonna finish this tonight. Are we clear?”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Brooklynne replied as Jessica picked up the bazooka and aimed it at Marnie’s shop.

“Can we blow up these Wiccan dispshits already?” Pam complained. “I got a mani-pedi at 4.”

“Wait, Marnie’s not alone in there?” Brooke asked.

“Her accomplices are with her,” Bill answered.

“Are Tara and Lafayette inside?” she questioned angrily as Bill was about to let his progeny blow up the place with her friends inside.

“Who cares?” Pam shrugged.

“We’re _not _killing Tara and Lafayette.”

“They tried to kill us,” Pam reminded her.

“I don’t care,” she growled.

Pam raised an eyebrow as she put a hand on her waist.

“How are we gonna get Marnie out of her there?” Eric asked, putting a stop to the debate.

“Why don’t we just go in there and rip her head off?”

“She can control the dead, remember?” Jessica said. “And you’re dead now.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Jason shouted as he ran towards them, appearing from across the street. “Stop, stop, stop, stop.”

“Jason? What are you doing here?”

“Brooke? Oh my God,” he breathed out as he went to hug her. “We thought you were dead!”

She grimaced, though he couldn’t see her face. She hugged her big brother back for a few seconds before gently pushing him away.

“Yeah… I… I am.”

“What?”

“I am… dead.”

“Wh-“ he took a step back as he realized.

Uncontrollable rage took over him as he turned to Bill to punch him. The vampire didn’t even try to avoid the hit.

“You son of bitch!” he shouted. “You killed my sister.”

Bill clenched his jaw but stayed calm. Brooklynne didn’t try to stop him.

“Why should we stop?” Eric asked, changing the subject back.

“What?” Jason frowned. “Oh, yeah,” his entire demeanor changed as fast as he had gotten angry, and was now back to his normal panicking self. “You can’t blow up the place up. Put that down,” he told Jessica as he pointed to the bazooka. “Sookie’s in there.”

“What?”

“I told her to stay away!” Bill said.

“And you expected her to listen?” Eric asked.

“Damn it, Sookie,” Brooke sighed.

“’Damn it, Sookie’?” Jason repeated. “She’s in there to avenge your death!”

“I can avenge my own death, thank you very much!”

“We must abort,” Bill gave up. “We have to find another way.”

“And just so you know, Marnie put a spell around the place,” Jason said as he picked up a rock from the ground. “Watch this.”

He proceeded to throw the rock towards the shop and it collided against an invisible wall which lit up and disintegrated it in seconds. “This goes around the whole damn place.”

“We have to disable it,” Bill said.

“How are we gonna do that?” Brooke asked.

“I have no ide-“

Bill never got the chance to finish his sentence as he was pushed to the ground by a sudden appearance. His back painfully met the ground and he was now face to face with one of his missing sheriffs, Kirsch, sheriff of area 1. Eric was snatched right next from where Brooklynne was standing and the Viking was pushed against the wall across the street. Brooklynne growled and her fangs got out unintentionally. She didn’t let the surprise stop her as she launched herself at Duprez, sheriff or area 2. She pushed him to the ground and Pam had already stabbed him before he had any chance to get back up. He turned into a pool of blood at their feet.

“You okay?” Eric asked Brooklynne as if he weren’t the one who had just been attacked.

She didn’t get the chance to answer as they heard a scream to their right. They turned to see Kirsch lying on her stomach on the ground, Bill’s foot positioned on her chest to stop her from going anywhere.

“Antonia,” he called. “Show your face, witch! Hiding behind magic like a coward does not become you!”

Brooklynne turned to the front door of the shop, and waited. One minute. Two minutes. When, finally, Sookie came out.

“Brooke!”

“Sookie!”

“You’re alive!”

“Shall we return to the matter at hand?” Marnie spoke up from behind Sookie.

The fairy-human hybrid rolled her eyes. “Marnie wants to negotiate.”

“How may I serve, Antonia?” Kirsch asked, still possessed by Marnie’s magic.

The witch said something in Latin which allowed Kirsch to free herself from under Bill’s foot. The King, however, did not let her go, seized her and threw her towards Marnie where she came in contact with the wall. She screamed in pain as she burned and went up in flames before exploding into a thousand pieces.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Marnie said. “The power of the sun harnessed. The protection spell is impenetrable to most humans, and not fatal but to vampires, one touch is a death sentence.”

Brooklynne looked up at Eric with a look he only understood too late.

“You’re so dead,” Brooklynne said before she ran towards the ‘impenetrable wall’. She was met with some resistance, though she felt no pain and reached the other side in less than a minute. Marnie stared at her with surprise. She was so stunned she didn’t even realize she was in danger and only started to worry when Brooklynne had her trapped between her body and the wall of her shop. She opened her mouth, showing her fangs to the witch.

“You did this to me,” she told her before she dug her teeth in her neck.

“Brooklynne!” she heard her sister call but ignored it.

Marnie screamed but soon became quiet as life left her body like it had left Brooklynne’s the night before. She let go of the witch once she no longer felt a pulse and she collapsed to the floor, drops of her own blood falling from Brooke’s lips to her face.

She licked her lips, realizing she had blood all over her mouth and chin. She tried to wipe it up with her hand but only stained herself more. The wall disappeared as soon as Marnie died, and Eric hurried to Brooke’s side.

“You could’ve died!”

“The sun can’t kill me.”

“You didn’t know that!”

“I can feel it, Eric. It hasn’t changed.”

“What do you mean?” Sookie asked.

Brooklynne turned to see her sister’s shocked face. She was joined by Jason who didn’t look any better.

“I’m still a fairy,” she shrugged. “I know it. I can feel it.”

“You’re a vampire-fairy hybrid?” Bill asked, as stunned as the rest of them.

“And none of you will ever repeat it to anyone, ever,” Eric threatened and made himself very clear to the King and his progeny.

“You’re a vampire,” Sookie whispered as she realized, feeling stupid for thinking Eric had been able to heal her after he left them at the hotel. “Are you… are you okay?”

“I will be,” she said as she took Eric’s hand in hers.

Sookie tried to hide her grimace. She turned to Bill once more and gave him a look he knew meant she would never forgive him.

“What should we do about Marnie’s accomplices?” he asked.

“Apart from Roy, they’re all hostages in there,” Sookie told him.

“Are you kidding me?” Pam scoffed.

“I swear, she even killed one them like ten minutes ago.”

“Fine,” Eric said. “Let’s find this Roy. So I can rip his heart from his chest.”

***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the beginning of the end... first part of the very last chapter!


	22. The End

Adapting to being a vampire wasn’t so hard for Brooklynne. Perhaps because she wasn’t really a vampire, but rather a vampire-fairy hybrid who, aside from being immortal, was as human as she used to be.

She didn’t fear the sun, she ate human food and didn’t have to rely on blood to survive. The hardest part of her transition was that everything was heightened. Her sight, her hearing, her strength… She was faster than lightning, and, since apparently it was a hereditary talent, she could fly, like her maker. A talent she’d have to learn to control, and a talent which Pam was jealously unequipped with.

To the rest of the world, Brooke was just another mortal, weird like her sister, maybe gifted with telepathy for those who believed in those sorts of things. But to her family, to her loved ones, she was the strongest creature on Earth, and, therefore, the weakest.

Eric’s worry was loud and made him even more unpleasant than before. With other people, that is. He took extra care of Brooklynne, who felt like a little girl again, who wasn’t allowed to leave her house because she’d get too distracted to even remember her own name.

Fortunately for her, Eric could not control her days, which she spent with her sister at Merlotte’s. It had been a week now, since she had become a vampire, and the only abnormal behavior she showed was an extreme appetite. She could not stop eating, and she almost emptied Sam’s kitchen, not that he would ever complain about it.

“Look at you,” Arlene said as she walked behind the bar to grab a bottle of alcohol. “You wouldn’t be expecting a happy event, would you?”

Brooklynne almost choked on her chicken wing and Arlene laughed as the hybrid coughed and wiped the mess she had made.

“What? No!”

“I’m just kidding ya. I know you can’t get pregnant. Not while you’re with that vampire of yours…”

Brooklynne watched the waitress walk away and disappear in the hallway, leaving a wave of disapproval behind her.

“Fuck you too,” she mumbled under her breath.

“What was that?” Sookie asked, approaching her with a plate she put down on the bar.

“Nothing.”

“What did Arlene want?”

“To make sure I knew how much she hates my kind.”

“To be fair, you’re the first and only one of your kind.”

“Wanna join me?”

“No, thanks,” she swiftly dismissed the mere idea, “hey, isn’t Eric supposed to be here already?”

“Yeah. I guess there was an emergency at Fangtasia. He’s not answering my texts.”

“Well, that’s weird.”

“Not really,” she shrugged. “It’s Halloween. He says there’s always some shit happening on Halloween.”

“When did you start using those words?” Sookie sighed. “You weren’t always so vulgar.”

Her sister laughed. “Sorry. I’m just repeating what he said.”

“Anyway, I have to take out the trash before I leave, want me to drive you?”

“Sure, why not? I’ll join you outside.”

Brooklynne finished her plate, then her drink in one go, before leaving some cash on the bar. She walked across the restaurant and exited through the back door. There, she found her sister and Holly talking about Marnie. Brooke rolled her eyes.

“What’s going on?”

“Hey, Brooklynne.”

“What’s up Holly?”

“Oh, nothing, honey. We were just talking about… well… we just have a bad feeling, is all.”

“It’s probably nothing,” Sookie waved it off.

“Yeah. We’re just spooked because it’s Halloween and all.”

Screeching tires drew their attention towards Tara’s car who had just parked in a panic. Brooklynne didn’t know if it was the previous spooky talk, or just Tara’s look as she ran towards them, but she was starting to have a bad feeling as well.

“Tara?” Sookie called. “Tara what is it? What happened?”

“She’s back!”

“Who’s back, honey?”

“Marnie.”

“Marnie’s dead,” Brooklynne rolled her eyes. “I should know, I killed her myself.”

“She killed Jesus,” Tara started crying. “I think she’s inside Lafayette.”

Sookie turned slowly towards her little sister, who oddly appeared to stand taller than her for once.

“Don’t look at me, I’m no witch. I wouldn’t know the first thing about getting that bitch out of Lafayette.”

“No, Brooke… Eric’s not answering his phone.”

If Brooklynne ever doubted her heart was still beating, she sure had the answer now, as it felt like it skipped a beat as she realized what her sister was saying.

“No,” she scoffed in disbelief. “He’d kill Lafayette on the spot.”

“I’m gonna try to call Bill,” the waitress said as she took out her phone.

Brooklynne shook her head, maybe to try and throw the mere idea of Eric being in any kind of danger away, as she took out her own cellphone.

“Bill’s not answering,” Sookie said, now even more panicked than before.

“Eric either…”

“Well, do we know where they could be?” Holly asked.

Sookie took a deep breath as she remembered what Bill had told her earlier: _‘I’ll be waiting for you at home. My men will let you in.’_

“Yes. We do.”

***

Vampires were supposed to heal fast. So fast that they could barely feel pain. Which is why this headache was doubly irritating for Brooklynne. Between the busy minds of her sister, Holly and Tara, whom she was riding with, her own head felt like it was about to explode. Filled with worry and incomprehension, she kept asking herself if she should just get out of the car and run to Bill’s house on her own. She’d already be there.

_“You can’t. If Tara and Holly find out you’re a vampire, it won’t be a secret anymore.”_

_“Who cares at this point? Eric could die any second now!”_

_“Pam might already be there.”_

_“If he wanted either of us there, he’d had already called us. Which means he’s in real danger, Marnie is not kidding around, she’s aiming to kill!”_

_“Don’t remind me. I’m driving you to her!”_

_“She won’t have a chance to hurt me. She’ll be dead before…”_

_“You can’t kill her like last time, Brooke. She’s inside Lafayette. We need to trust Holly, she knows how this works.”_

_“No, she doesn’t, are you listening to her? She’s got a bag full of salt and a mouth full of ‘maybes’. What if she has no clue how to deal with this?”_

_“Either way, we’re not killing Lafayette.”_

_“If killing Lafayette is the only way to save Eric, I will do it myself.”_

_“Are you hearing yourself? You’re talking about killing Lafayette! Our friend! Tara’s cousin!”_

_“Sorry, Sook. But it’s not a hard choice. Not even a little bit.”_

Brooklynne did her best to shut her sister’s disapproving thoughts out of her head, she knew it all already. Of course, she wouldn’t be happy about killing Lafayette. Of course, she’d rather Holly’s plan worked. But if it didn’t, if she had to choose between watching Marnie/Lafayette kill Eric or kill her/him herself, she wouldn’t lose sleep over it. She stopped for a second, a very brief second, and wondered if she’d had thought the same as a human/fairy. If she had been in that situation a month ago, what would she have done? She knew what she would have done. She’d have been too weak to fight off Marnie. She’d have been too weak to save Eric.

She wasn’t going to be weak tonight.

“Any of you got a mirror?” Holly asked as she did the inventory of her Wiccan first aid-kit.

“You ever done this before?” Sookie asked as she handed her a small mirror she found in her purse.

“Goddess, no,” the waitress replied as she shoved the mirror into her bag, next to the salt and the sage. “Usually, I just light a candle and ask the spirits to make sure my boys don’t end up in jail or knock somebody up.”

Sookie could hear her sister scoff and roll her eyes next to Holly, a _“what did I say?”_ echoing inside of her head.

“But so far, that’s worked out okay.”

“Maybe you’re just a good mother,” Brooke mumbled.

“Oh, thanks honey.”

Brooklynne frowned as the mother of two gave her a nervous smile, her lack of faith in her Wiccan religion completely oblivious to her.

“Sook, you can’t let them hurt him,” Tara begged. “If Bill and Eric find out Marnie’s inside Lafayette…”

“I have a feeling they already know…”

Tara stepped on the accelerator. They were only a couple of minutes away. Brooklynne kept trying to reach her maker through their bond, but the silence she was met with only helped widening the pit in her stomach.

Tara stopped the car at the gates of Bill’s property and the four women jumped out of the vehicle, Holly, her bag of magic tricks on her shoulder.

Brooklynne, though she had been patient until then, didn’t even think twice about disappearing on them as soon as she smelled wood and straw.

“Eric!”

She found them tied up together to a pyre, half naked, silver chains around their bare chest.

“What are you doing here? You need to go, now!”

“Are you crazy? I’m not leaving without you!”

“Brooklynne!” Sookie called as she caught up to her sister, Holly and Tara behind her.

“Are you kidding me? You didn’t think to tell us you were a vampire?” Tara started to yell.

“She can’t be, she was at the bar all day long!” Holly said, confused, and a little bit scared.

They didn’t get the time to argue about it any more, however, as Marnie appeared before them.

“As your friend Lafayette would say, what goes around comes around, bitches.”

“I’m gonna kill you, you crazy bitch.”

“You already have,” Marnie replied with surprising calm. “Thank you for coming.”

Marnie/Lafayette raised a hand and waved it once to the left. Brooklynne felt her feet get off the floor and was sent flying across the garden where she collided with a tree.

Eric and Sookie called her name, in useless worry. She was back up on her feet in a matter of seconds.

“Lafayette!”

Tara received a deathly stare from the dead witch inside her cousin, and she gulped.

“… and Marnie. Please, don’t do this.”

“After all they’ve done to you, you protect them?”

“Killing Bill and Eric isn’t gonna make any of that go away.”

“Revenge will never bring you peace,” Eric told her.

“There can’t be peace until there is justice for me, for Antonia, for all the women you tortured and burned for centuries!”

Taking advantage of the moment, Holly started drawing a circle of salt around the pyre as Marnie had her back turned to her.

“All to repress a magic that’s older and more powerful than your very existence.”

“Marnie, what will this serve?” Bill, who saw Holly and understood the plan, asked, to help distract her. “There are millions of us, more being made every night. You cannot win.”

“I’m already dead, vampire. Thanks to you and your friends, I have nothing left to lose.”

Marnie lowered her head and raised her hands in the air as she casted three more words “incendia of sanctimonia”.

“No!” Brooke and Sookie screamed as they tried to make their way to the now burning pyre. But the fire Marnie had just started only grew bigger as they reached it. Brooklynne dragged her sister away from it as Tara joined them.

“Stop it,” she yelled. “It’s still Lafayette!”

“I don’t care,” Brooke growled as she raised a hand, a blinding light coming out of it, hitting Lafayette/Marnie in the chest, pushing them far away. It didn’t stop the fire, to her biggest disappointment.

Holly finished the circle of salt, joining them back to her starting point, as Marnie sat up, now, neither looking like Lafayette or herself, but with a painted face of some sort of creature.

“Give me your hands, now!”

Hesitantly, Tara joined the three women in a circle, taking the hand of the two sisters in her own. Immediately, they started chanting.

“**Spirits who watch over us, friends, family, ancestors, guardians of the gate, with this rite we evoke thee through the veil of Samhain, we call thee forth.**”

Again and again, they chanted, keeping Marnie out of the circle, however, doing nothing to stop the fire that was burning the two vampires next to them.

As the dead witch growled and the immortals screamed out of pain, spirits appeared in the cemetery near them, walking the earth once more, to join them in their battle. Sookie kept an eye open on Bill, while Brooklynne focused on Eric, doing her best not to break the circle and jump in the fire herself to get him out of there.

“Marnie.”

The summoned spirits stood in the forest, behind Marnie, calling her, only one, however, getting her attention: Antonia.

“Marnie.”

Lafayette’s face changed back to normal as the painted face of the creature disappeared, Marnie, making her way to the ghost of her former partner.

“My sister.”

“You came back to me…” she said, and the witch smiled. “I knew you would.”

Antonia’s eyes moved from Lafayette/Marnie to the burning pyre, and from where she stood blew out the fire as easily as she would have blown off the candles on a birthday cake.

“Antonia, no!”

Brooklynne didn’t wait one more second as she made her way to her maker, ripped off the silver chains tying the vampires to the still hot death trap. Eric’s knees were too weak and she caught him as he fell. However, no one was there to catch the King, who fell off the pyre and onto the hard ground. Sookie was quickly by his side.

“Are you okay?”

“Crispy.”

“Why the hell didn’t you call me? Or Pam?”

“So you could have burned with me? Not a great plan.”

“Not asking for help isn’t a plan at all!”

Off the pyre and back on the ground, Eric enjoyed the feeling of his burning bare feet on the cold grass. Brooke helped him kneel down.

“What the hell am I supposed to do without you? Don’t you dare die on me now that I’m immortal!”

“I’d rather die knowing that you’re safe, than die after watching you get killed.”

“And I’d rather die than spend immortality without you, so don’t you ever do that again!”

“Alright. I’ll try not to get burned alive by the crazy ghost of a witch again. That I can promise you.”

“Shut up and drink,” she rolled her eyes as she kneeled beside him and offered him her wrist.

The witches were still talking on the other side of the circle, and whatever Antonia was saying, Marnie didn’t want to hear it.

“All creatures have their purpose, even vampires.”

“How can you say that? They murdered us!”

“Their cruelty served its purpose: to bring you and I together. And now I am here to take you home.”

“I’m not finished yet.”

“Oh, yes you are.”

_That voice._ Brooklynne knew that voice. She turned her head, but whoever it was, she was hidden behind the pyre. However, Sookie could see her perfectly.

“Gran?”

“Holy Goddess.”

“Holy shit.”

Eric released Brooke’s hand so that she could get up and see for herself, Adele, her grandmother, make her way to Lafayette, put her hand in his mouth and reach down his throat. She took out a black fog which she threw away behind her. Once it reached the ground, it turned into Marnie.

“I don’t wanna go. I am not ready. Please!” she begged as she stood up.

“I was trapped between world for 400 years… lost and driven mad by my rage. I do not want that for you.”

“And what about what _I _want?! Nobody cares what _I _want! All my life, I’ve been afraid. And who wouldn’t be? With dead people murmuring in my ears, making me deliver your messages… making _me_ into a freak! A creepy, pathetic, terrified mess muttering to herself in the corner.”

“But that is not who you are anymore.”

“No. That’s right. I’m not afraid anymore. I’ve got real power now. And you want to take that away from me?” she cried. “You want _them_ to win?”

“Oh, Marnie,” Antonia said as she took Marnie’s face between her hands, “Marnie, can’t you see? Life is pain. But soon, all you have suffered and feared will be meaningless. You will be at peace. But them…”

“… they’ll be stuck here. Forever.”

“And there is no victory in that.”

A tear or two fell down Marnie’s cheeks as she screamed. “Oh, this fucking sucks.”

“Come on.”

Antonia took Marnie’s hand and led her down to the forest where the other spirits were waiting for her. Adele followed them.

“Gran!”

Sookie and Brooklynne called after her, hoping to make her stay.

“Please don’t go,” Sookie cried.

“I have to, dear.”

“I’m so lost without you. I don’t know what to do.”

“Yes, you do. Look at your sister. She’s got it all figured out,” she said as she smiled, proudly, at Brooklynne.

“Oh, Gran… I’m so sorry.”

“For what, dear?”

Brooklynne sniffed and shrugged, hoping her grandmother was proud of her, of who she had become.

“Answer’s where it always is. In your heart. Being alone, it ain’t nothing to be afraid of, my girls. We’re all alone, at the end.”

She smiled at them one last time before joining the spirits back to the cemetery and her granddaughters watch her leave them with tears in their eyes.

Brooke felt a hand slide on her waist, and she took it, as Eric pulled her towards him.

“No offense to your grandmother, but neither one of us will be alone at the end.”

Brooke chuckled as she wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand.

“This is the worst night ever.”

“Well,” he said as he turned her around and wiped one last tear with his thumb, “the night is still young.”

***

Eric had no idea how right he was. Well, maybe he did, a little. He knew what was coming. For him, for Bill. For Brooklynne. They were coming for their heads.

He hadn’t said a word, but Brooklynne knew too. She wasn’t used to being able to read his mind, and it mostly just happened, she couldn’t control it. He was thinking about it, so hard, as he was drinking her blood, in Bill’s living room. She could hear her sister break up with Bill in the other room, and she just wished she could tune them out. Hearing Bill cry made her feel sick.

“Are you sure they’re coming after you too? It wasn’t your fault.”

“They don’t care. I was caught on camera.”

“They destroyed all of that footage.”

“There are witnesses.”

“Glamour them.”

“It’s too late.”

“Then we should leave. Now.”

“And go where? They won’t stop until…”

“Brooklynne.”

The vampire-fairy hybrid turned to see her sister enter the room. Her eyes were red. And wet.

“I’m going home.”

“Okay. I’m staying here, with Eric.”

“You should go with her. There’s no reason for you to be here when…”

Brooklynne shot him a look that told him all he needed to know. She wasn’t going anywhere. She’d save him. Or die trying.

“Have a good night, Sook.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” her sister nodded as she waved, before she walked away.

“The AVL doesn’t know I’m a vampire. They can’t kill me. It’s against their own rules.”

“If you get in their way, if you show them what you can do…”

“Eric,” she stopped him, taking a step forward and placing a hand above his, “either we’re leaving town, or we’re staying. But we stay together.”

Eric sighed, defeated.

“Like you said, neither of us will be alone at the end.”

***

Bill was back to being a cold bastard when he joined them in his living room. He sat in an armchair next to them, and they all kept a dreadful quiet as they enjoyed the last hour of their life.

Bill had nothing else to lose. He had just lost the only thing he wanted, the only thing he needed. Without Sookie, he had no reason to live. He wouldn’t fight the Authority, if they came knocking on his door with a true death warrant. Eric thought about his human life. His immortal life. Godric. Pam. Brooklynne. He thought about the life he had and the one he would never get. The life he dreamt of having with Brooklynne, and the one he could never give her. But Brooklynne wasn’t done fighting. She had barely started. She’d use all of her powers to kill them all, if need be. She felt strong enough. She never even took the time to ask herself if she could.

When the cars arrived, disturbing the silent night as they drove on the gravel driveway, they all felt like time had stopped. Like it was all decided, and they would either leave the house alive, or not at all.

Brooklynne suddenly felt like she had forgotten so many things. Her siblings. She should have said goodbye to them. But instead, she let Sookie go without even telling her she might never see her again. She was almost certain Eric was thinking the same way about Pam. But he knew if he had let her know about any of this, she’d had come, and he couldn’t do that to her. She deserved better.

At least, Bill had said his goodbye.

“This is it,” the King of Louisiana said as he straightened his suit.

“It’s been a crazy thousand years.”

Brooklynne scoffed dryly.

“I thought immortality would last longer.”

They followed Bill as he took the direction of the front door. He opened with a polite smile, a smile Brooklynne had dubbed “Bill’s political smile”.

Nan Flanagan was standing on the porch with a handful of heavily armed men and she looked pissed. She looked furious.

“Ms. Flanagan, we’ve been expecting you.”

Eric and Brooklynne appeared behind their king. It somehow seemed to make her angrier.

“Hi, Nan. And gay stormtroopers.”

Eric’s ability to make stupid jokes in moments such as this one was one of the reasons Brooklynne loved him so much.

“Perfect. Two birds, one stone,” she said as she entered the house, taking the direction of Bill’s office, followed by her guards.

Though Eric stayed silent, Brooklynne could feel his relief. Whatever Nan’s orders were, Brooklynne didn’t seem to be included in them.

The couple stepped in the crowded office, joining Bill’s side.

“The Marnie situation has been resolved, if that makes any difference,” Bill said.

“Ding, dong, the witch is dead,” Nan replied with a tone so sharp it would have given the true death to any vampire who got too close. “Yippee.”

“His Majesty showed great leadership in extremely perilous circumstances. You should be kissing his ring.”

“Why bother when your tongue’s already so far up his ass?”

Eric contemplated his options as his desire to kill the bitch grew stronger. Brooklynne was glad he controlled himself.

Nan gestured her guards to close the door and they stood before it, blocking the only exit. Brooklynne looked up at Eric who seemed to be as nervous as she was. This meant nothing good.

“I wish for one fucking night you could experience the litany of bullshit I’ve had to deal with. Then you’d have some idea of how little I give a fuck about your small-town witch infestation, or your whole backwoods kingdom, for that matter.”

“For someone who cares so little, you seem awfully pissed off.”

“Do I, Bill? Maybe that’s because I quit my fucking job!”

“You quit the AVL?” Eric asked, as baffled as Bill was.

“And the Authority.”

“No one quits the Authority,” Bill chuckled nervously.

“Quit, fired, same difference!”

“We assumed we were the ones to be terminated.”

“Oh, there’s been an order issued on your heads.”

Hearing those words, Brooklynne instinctively seized Eric’s hand.

“My last duty was supposed to be delivering the True Death to both of you. Of course, I realized I’d be next.”

She sighed, trying to control her anger. Failing.

“I have been alive for eight hundred and sixteen years. I refuse to be retired like a fat first wife!”

“Let me make sure I got this straight,” Eric said. “You’re mutinying against the American Vampire League and the Authority?”

“And you expect us to join you?”

“We won’t be alone,” she assured them. “There are factions inside the regime who have never been completely on board with the current agenda. Sheriff Northman knows what I’m talking about.”

Brooklynne frowned. So did Bill.

“What’s in it for us?” the Viking asked, undisturbed by the accusation.

Nan laughed. “Aside from surviving the night? How about your little fairy toy over there? And her sister.”

Their silence and cold stares didn’t faze her.

“Oh, come on. The mind reading, the microwave fingers? You didn’t think I knew what you were? There are at least a couple thousand vampires who would do almost anything to get a taste of your blood.”

“They’re welcome to try,” Brooklynne smirked.

In the next second, she had seized Bill’s paper knife and cut the throat of all of Nan’s human guards. Eric had wanted to do it, but she insisted, as it was her sister she was protecting.

“You’re a vampire?” Nan gasped, looking at her like she was an alien. Which… she was.

“_Don’t_. _threaten_. _my_ _sister_.”

Bill armed himself with the fancy stake that was on display behind his seat, and stabbed Nan who exploded on the spot. There were pieces of her everywhere, the vampires were covered with her blood. Brooklynne took what looked like a tooth from her hair and threw it towards the pile of blood at her feet. She grimaced, then sighed.

“Can we leave now?”

***

Leaving a voicemail to his progeny, Bill didn’t help Eric clean up the mess he had made of Nan Flanagan. Brooklynne stared at the fake window as her maker made sure to get rid of any evidence that would work against them in case of a trial. Though, if they ever got caught, they would not get the luxury of a trial. Their fate was already sealed, killing Nan was just going to buy them a little bit more time. Or so they thought.

As soon as they stepped out of the house, they fell into a silver trap. They were surrounded by a dozen heavily armed men who threw silver nets at Bill and Eric. They both cried out of pain and Brooklynne’s first instinct was to help her maker, but she was quickly pinned against the wall with unhuman strength.

The soldier took off his helmet and stared at her, right in the eyes, as he said: “go back inside, sit down and forget this ever happened”.

Her eyes grew big as she realized he was trying to glamour her. She could see in the corner of her eye that they were taking them away, towards the trunk of their black vehicle. There were too many soldiers there, all wearing protection gear and weapons that could kill a vampire in a second. She did her best to put the loud voice inside her head to rest. It killed her to ignore it, it almost destroyed her to not try anything to help Eric, but she knew if she tried anything, if she showed them she couldn’t be compelled, if she showed them what she really was, they’d either kill her or take her too, and she would never be able to help anyone again.

So, she did as he asked. She went back inside Bill’s house, sat on the first armchair she could find, and watched as they drove away.

She got up as soon as she was certain they wouldn’t be able to see her follow them. She stayed far enough away, running fast, faster than she ever thought she could run. She even tried to fly, but to no avail. She followed them out of Bon-Temps and into an empty road. It was the middle of the night, so there was no one else there, but vampires.

She tried to think of a plan, of a way to get them out that wouldn’t get her and them killed. But there was no way she could free them without alerting the Authority soldiers.

But, suddenly, the black van in which all of the soldiers had gotten into took another road. It confused Brooklynne for a second, until she realized they were probably going back to their base, which meant Bill and Eric were going somewhere else. Somewhere like New-Orleans, to the Vampire Authority Headquarters.

She ran even faster now, so she could catch up to the single car, in which Eric was trapped. She positioned herself in the middle of the road, in front of the vehicle, but far enough away so that they could see her before driving into her. She rose a hand and the brightest light came out of it, blinding the driver. He immediately, out of instinct, turned the wheel, causing the car to roll over three times before it stopped in the field on her right.

She rushed towards the trunk which was already half opened. One kick was enough to open it wide.

“Brooklynne,” Eric breathed out as he crawled out, “what are you doing?”

“Saving your life? You’re welcome. Come on.”

They helped Bill out but didn’t get the time to do anything else as a vampire, whom Brooke recognized to be the driver, showed up behind them, holding a gun, no doubt loaded with silver bullets.

“Who wants to die first?”

Eric pushed Brooke behind him, screaming at her mentally to run the second she can, to not think twice about it. As soon as he turned into a pool of blood, she had to make a run for it.

But he wasn’t the one who exploded into a disgusting pile of bloody body parts.

A woman stood where the vampire used to be a second before, his spine in her hand.

“You, Hayes,” she said, looking down at the pile of blood, “you die first.”

“Nora,” Eric breathed out.

Their savior threw the spine on the ground and shook her bloody hand, trying to get the remaining pieces of Hayes off of her skin.

“I had arranged for our car to be conveniently ambushed when we hit 310,” Nora said, she had a British accent. Our attackers were going to take out my driver there. Unfortunately, wonder woman over here came 12 miles too soon.”

“Um… sorry?”

“Don’t be. It was badass.”

“Eric, you know this woman?” Bill asked.

“Yes. She’s my sister.”

Brooklynne thought she had misheard. Eric never mentioned a sister. She felt confused and… _betrayed?_

“Your sister? You have a sister who works for the Authority?” Bill says, both surprised and suspicious.

“I’m a Chancellor,” she replied proudly.

“I don’t understand,” Brooke said. “If you knew they were coming for Eric, why didn’t you warn him?”

“There was no time. The Guardian wanted Nan followed to make sure she carried out his orders. I saw an opportunity to save Eric, so I took it.”

“So nobody in the Authority knows about your relationship?” Bill asked.

“And they never will. We were only connected through out maker, Godric. And Godric is gone,” she said with obvious sorrow.

“As a Chancellor of the Authority, you’re taking a huge risk,” Bill continued, still not trusting her fully. “Why would you choose to…”

“Because I’d do anything for Eric.”

“And I’d do anything for you,” the Viking said as he took a step forward.

He went to hug his sister, whom he apparently hadn’t seen in decades. She smiled as she hugged him back. Brooklynne thought it would have been nice to know he had someone he cared about so much other than Pam. Though she could understand why keeping their relationship a secret was for the best, perhaps he could have trusted her enough to share that secret with her.

“And,” Nora continued, “because you did what you did protecting us from the necromancers. That we would reward you for it with the True Death speaks volume about how out of step the Authority’s current agenda is.”

So, Nan knew. Nan knew of Nora and of her relationship with Eric. Which meant Eric did keep in touch at least a little bit. Brooke tried to keep her anger to a minimum.

“I’m not alone in this belief.”

“Factions within the Authority?” Bill asked, making the connection with the information Nan had given him earlier that night.

“Mm-mmh,” she nodded. “So, who’s wonder woman?”

Nora looked at the fairy with interest, but Brooke didn’t answer, uncertain of how much she should say. She turned to Eric for guidance.

“Nora, this is Brooklynne, my progeny.”

“A pleasure, I’m sure…” Nora mumbled thoughtfully. “What is she? She smells amazing.”

“She’s…” Eric pondered. “… complicated.”

“Right…” she said, suspicious. “And I suppose that light is part of the… complications.”

“What light?”

“The light that came out of your progeny, causing Hayes to drive us into this field.”

Eric looked at Brooklynne with regret. She exposed herself to save him, putting herself in danger.

“Like I said. It’s complicated.”

“Well,” she sighed, resigned to stay in the dark, “’complicated’ is an improvement from that whore you keep around.”

“Nora!” Eric hissed, threateningly.

Brooklynne frowned. Perhaps her contempt for Pam was what kept the two apart for so long. She couldn’t help but wonder if Eric trusted any of them. She thought she knew him, but she just realized she had many, many things to figure out about him still. The fact he kept her true identity from Nora meant he didn’t trust her entirely either, or perhaps, it was just the Authority that made him nervous. But finding out about Nora’s existence that night rose many questions that she didn’t have time to ask at the moment.

“Help me turn the car around,” Nora asked Bill. “Let’s see if it can drive us somewhere safe for the day.”

Eric gestured Brooklynne to follow him and they made their way to the road in silence. She tried hard not to explore his thoughts.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a sister?”

“We don’t tell anyone we’re related. It’s for everyone’s safety.”

“Okay. Why didn’t you tell her who I was? She thinks I’m a vampire.”

“She saw your speed and strength, she already knew you were a vampire.”

“But you don’t trust her enough to tell her the truth.”

“She works for the Authority. If she ever gets caught for being ‘against the current agenda’ she’ll get tortured and asked about everything that she knows. I told you, you can’t trust anyone.”

“So what? I’m just supposed to pretend to be a vampire now? To sleep all day? Pretend I don’t eat human food?”

“Only around Nora, which you won’t be for long.”

She sighed. “Right. So… what do we do now?”

“_We_ do nothing. Nora will get Bill and I out of here. We’ll have new identities, we’ll be safer once we get out of the country.”

“What? What do you mean? I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not.”

Brooklynne gasped as she took a step back. It felt like a slap in the face.

“The Authority has no knowledge of your existence, there is no warrant out for you arrest, you can go back to Bon-Temps, be with your sister.”

“No! No way.”

“Brooklynne.”

He put his hands on both her shoulders as he looked down at her.

“It’s not safe to come with me. They will hunt me down until they catch me.”

“So?”

“So, you’ll be safer in Bon-Temps. Stay with Pam. I’ll be in touch, I’ll call, I’ll…”

“Eric, I am not going back to Bon-Temps without you. I’m not going anywhere _without_ you. You promised! We promised.”

“The life that’s waiting for me is not worth living.”

“No life is worth living without you, how many times do I have to say it?!”

“Brook-“

“No! I have no life without you, Eric. _You _are my life. You gave me immortality and you better be sure I’m going to spend it with you. You will _not_ abandon me here!”

“Brooklynne,” he sighed as he brought her to his chest.

He placed a kiss on the top of her head as he hugged her.

“This isn’t what I wanted for you.”

“I know. But it’s better than nothing.”

He backed away and placed his hands on both sides of her face.

“I love you,” he said as dark red tears appeared in his eyes.

She gave him a sad smile. “I love you too. More than anything.”

He leaned over to kiss her. His lips capturing hers like it was the first and last time they would do so. He held her tightly to him, as to stop her from slipping away.

He released her reluctantly, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs, and returning her sad smile.

“Forgive me.”

She frowned. But she didn’t get the time to express her confusion as he swiftly twisted her head, breaking it in a horrible sound that will haunt him forever.

**The end… ?**

**Author's Note:**

> New chapters will be posted every Monday!
> 
> You can find chapter 2 to 5 on my Patreon page: patreon.com/alonelydreamer for early and instant access!
> 
> Any support is immensely appreciated but if you can't that's alright! Chapter 2 will be posted on Monday 2nd!
> 
> Have a good week!


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